Spotlight on Kevin González

Kevin González was born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico. His first book of poems, Cultural Studies, was published by Carnegie Mellon University Press in 2009 and was a finalist for the 2010 Paterson Poetry Prize. His fiction has been awarded the Narrative Prize, the Michener-Copernicus Award, the Playboy Fiction Prize, and fellowships from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and the Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing. His stories have appeared in Best American Nonrequired Reading, Best New American Voices, and Keeping the Wolves at Bay: Stories by Emerging American Writers. He serves as editor of jubilat.

González’s awards and honors include:

2011 Narrative Prize.
First Place, Winter Story Contest, Narrative Magazine, 2011.
First Place, Below 30 Story Contest, Narrative Magazine, 2010.
Michener-Copernicus Award, 2009.
Carol Houck Smith Fiction Fellowship, Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing, 2007.
Dean’s Graduate Fellowship, Iowa Writers’ Workshop, 2005-2007.
First Place, Playboy College Fiction Prize, 2005.
Finalist, Paterson Poetry Prize, 2010.
Finalist, National Magazine Award, 2007.

You may sample his writing here:

 “Christmas Eve.” Narrative (Spring 2011).
 “Cerromar.” Narrative (Winter 2011).
 “Wake.” Virginia Quarterly Review 82, no. 2 (2006): 160-179.
 “Only Four Years Old.” La Bloga (July 15, 2010).

Finally, you’ll enjoy this interview with Kevin González  by poet Eduardo C. Corral.

IN OTHER NEWS…

◙ The UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center (CSRC) hosted a reception on December 13 to encourage support of the CSRC’s LGBT Latina/o Initiative, which is devoted to preserving LGBT collections and making them accessible to the general public. David Damian Figueroa, Roland Palencia, and professors Chon A. Noriega and Maylei Blackwell were the featured speakers, and artist Monica Palacios gave a short performance. If you would like to make a donation to support the leading Latina/o LGBT archival collection in the United States, please visit the CSRC’s UCLA support page or the Giving page on the CSRC website.

◙ Speaking of the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center, join the Center at the CSRC Library (144 Haines Hall, UCLA Campus) on Thursday, January 31, 4:00 to 5:30 p.m., when author Maria Nieto will read from and sign her first novel, Pig Behind the Bear (Floricanto Press/Berkeley Press, 2012). The book tells the story of a young female reporter for the Los Angeles Times who is asked to write a commemorative piece on Ruben Salazar on the one-year anniversary of Salazar’s death. While doing work for the piece, she finds herself embroiled in a murder mystery. Books will be available for purchase at the event and light refreshments will be served.

◙ Juan Felipe Herrera, the Poet Laureate of California, offers this lovely poetic remembrance of Jayne Cortez over at the Los Angeles Review of Books.

◙ Novelist and Los Angeles Times writer, Héctor Tobar, makes a resolution for the new year regarding his bulging and disorganized bookshelves.

◙ And finally, award winning author Luis J. Rodriguez offers this insightful YouTube presentation on 2012. Check it out!