An Afternoon With Luis Alberto Urrea, March 27

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Luis Alberto Urrea

ROCHESTER, NY (03/05/2013)(readMedia)-- Nazareth College is proud to be the first stop for award-winning author Luis Alberto Urrea's tour of Rochester as part of this year's thirteenth annual "If All of Rochester Read the Same Book" program sponsored by Writers & Books, Rochester's nationally renowned non-profit literary center. The featured book of this tour is Into the Beautiful North (Little, Brown and Company, 2009). An Afternoon with Luis Alberto Urrea will take place on Wednesday, March 27, from 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the Nazareth College Linehan Chapel inside the Golisano Academic Center. It is free and open to the public (no registration required). Urrea will do a reading, followed by a question and answer session and a book signing. Copies of the book are for sale in the Nazareth College Bookstore. Nazareth College is located at 4245 East Ave., Rochester, N.Y. 14618. An Afternoon with Luis Alberto Urrea is sponsored by the Nazareth College Marie Callahan Reading Center Memorial Fund and the Graduate Literacy Programs. For more information about Urrea and his Nazareth visit, go to www.wab.org or call 585-389-2614.

Into the Beautiful North is the story of nineteen-year-old Nayeli who works at a taco shop in her Mexican village and dreams about her father, who journeyed to the U.S. to find work. Recently, it has dawned on her that he isn't the only man who has left town. In fact, there are almost no men in the village--they've all gone north. While watching The Magnificent Seven, Nayeli decides to go north herself and recruit seven men--her own "Siete Magnificos"--to repopulate her hometown and protect it from the bandidos who plan on taking it over. Into the Beautiful North is the story of an irresistible young woman's quest to find herself on both sides of the fence.

Luis Alberto Urrea, 2005 Pulitzer Prize finalist for nonfiction and member of the Latino Literature Hall of Fame, is a prolific and acclaimed writer who uses his dual-culture life experiences to explore greater themes of love, loss and triumph. Born in Tijuana, Mexico to a Mexican father and an American mother, Urrea has published extensively in all the major genres. The critically acclaimed and best-selling author of 13 books, Urrea has won numerous awards for his poetry, fiction and essays.

Writers & Books initiated "If All of Rochester Read the Same Book" program in 2001. The goal is to encourage people to connect to others in the community through reading and discussion of a shared experience of literature. Each year Writers & Books selects one book for the community to explore together, leading to an extended residency by the author. An estimated 100,000 Rochester area readers have participated in this program since its start.

Founded in 1924, Nazareth College is located on a close-knit, suburban campus in the dynamic, metropolitan region of Rochester, N.Y. The College offers challenging academic programs in the liberal arts and sciences and professional programs in health and human services, education, and management. Nazareth's strong cultures of service and community prepare students to be successful professionals and engaged citizens. The College enrolls approximately 2,000 undergraduate students and 1,000 graduate students.

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