Podcast appearances and mentions of luis urrea

Until writer Luis Alberto Urrea inherited his mother's journals, he knew very little about what she'd seen and done in World War II. He knew she served on a team of Donut Dollies, women who volunteered with the Red Cross to provide mobile food, entertainment and comfort to U.S. servicemen station on many European battlefronts.But he didn't know she'd been on the front lines in one of the most ferocious battles, or that the nightmares she suffered her whole life stemmed from her experiences there. Like many people who've lived through extreme trauma, his mother mostly avoided the topic while she was alive.As Urrea combed through her journals and scrapbooks after her death, he encountered a woman who was marked by her time serving as a Donut Dolly in the war. His new novel, “Good Night, Irene” is not a biography of his mother, but it is inspired by her courage and experiences.This Friday, on Big Books and Bold Ideas, Urrea joined MPR News host Kerri Miller to tell stories about his mother and her fellow Donut Dollies. It's a conversation about the power of friendship, the trauma of war, and why laughter might be the most important human quality. Guest:Luis Alberto Urrea is the critically acclaimed and best-selling author of 19 books. His latest novel is “Good Night, Irene.”Use the audio player above to listen to the podcast version of the conversation.Subscribe to the MPR News with Kerri Miller podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts or RSS.Subscribe to the Thread newsletter for the latest book and author news and must-read recommendations.

'The Tip of the Pyramid: Cultivating Community Cultural Capital' (University of New Orleans Press, 2022) by writer and activist Tony Diaz, known as El Librotraficante, was published ten years after Arizona officials enforced a ban on Mexican American Studies. Diaz drove throughout the Southwest on his way to Arizona—with a caravan of Houston activists that included poet Lupe Mendez, Liana Lopez, Bryan Parras, and Laura Razo—after the state banned high school Mexican American studies programs, thus outlawing curriculums that consisted of books like The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros; The Months and Other Stories by Helena Maria Viramontes; Luis Urrea's The Hummingbird's Daughter and The Devil's Highway, among others. Diaz's The Tip of the Pyramid addresses the power and importance of cultural and community capital as a source of “self empowerment of our gente.” In this episode of OP Talks, he discusses the new book with Dr. Angela Valenzuela, director of the University of Texas Center for Education Policy, and doctoral student and longtime educator Patricia Núñez. They also discuss his activism work with the nonprofit he founded, Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say, and the mobilization of librotraficantes to fight bans on Latino authors and ethnic studies. Diaz notes that, with the national politicalization of school boards and book bans still taking place today, the need to work on behalf of the Latino community remains urgent. He shares a story about visiting the Mayan archaeological complex Teotihuacán in Mexico: While to some it is a tourist trap, for Diaz it proved to be a spiritual experience that made him feel both thrilled and angry. He remembers sitting on the steps of this ancient city, “having all these revelations in my mind” and thinking, “Wow, we have [been] brainwashed. I am standing on the proof of our gente's power, beauty, intelligence, and this has been kept from me, and the fact that this structure here exists is testament to all that.” The media, Diaz laments, constantly fails to accurately represent the Latino experience: “The forms that exist, especially from corporate media and corporate publishing, do not fully convey our experiences and, in some cases, they just erase us.”

The Nowhere Man is back! NYT Bestselling Author Gregg Hurwitz joins the Crew to pull the curtain back a little further on the life of Evan Smoak, Orphan X. We talk vodka, the challenges of parenting when you're trying to run a cocaine empire, and opinionated plants. Aragon Urrea is a kingpin of a major drug-dealing operation in South Texas. He's also the patron of the local area--supplying employment in legitimate operations, providing help to the helpless, rough justice to the downtrodden, and a future to a people normally with little hope. He's complicated--a not completely good man, who does bad things for often good reasons. However, for all his money and power, he is helpless when one of the most vicious cartels kidnaps his innocent eighteen year old daughter, spiriting her away into the armored complex that is their headquarters in Mexico. With no other way to rescue his daughter, he turns to The Nowhere Man.  Now not only must Evan figure out how to get into the impregnable fortress of a heavily armed, deeply paranoid cartel leader, but he must decide if he should help a very bad man--no matter how just the cause.   "Gregg Hurwitz has outdone himself this time. The many followers of Orphan X will get whiplash from the unexpected turns and surprises. It was only a matter of time until his Evan Smoak took on the drug cartels. That the main villain is a fully rounded character is unexpectedly moving. The action strikes like lightning." --Luis Urrea, Pulitzer Prize finalist for The Devil's Highway   GREGG HURWITZ is the New York Times #1 internationally bestselling author of 23 thrillers including the ORPHAN X series. His novels have won numerous literary awards and have been published in 33 languages. Gregg currently serves as the Co-President of International Thriller Writers (ITW). Additionally, he's written poetry, screenplays and television scripts for many of the major studios and networks, comics for AWA, DC, and Marvel, and political and culture pieces for The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, The Bulwark and others. Gregg lives with his Rhodesian ridgebacks in Los Angeles, where he continues to play soccer, frequently injuring himself.   Don't forget to subscribe to The Crew Reviews, hit the "LIKE" button, and leave a comment. And if you want to learn more about the guys from The Crew or see additional author interviews, visit us at http://www.thecrewreviews.com Follow us on social media Twitter | https://twitter.com/CREWbookreviews   Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/thecrewreviews Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/thecrewreviews/  

Patt Morrison talks with author Luis Urrea a Mexican American poet, novelist, and essayist.

Luis Urrea is a prolific writer who uses his dual-culture life experiences to explore greater themes of love, loss and triumph. Born in Tijuana to a Mexican father and American mother, Urrea is the critically acclaimed, best-selling author of 16 books. He talks with Steven Schick about his life and work, and their collaboration on a new version of Stravinsky's "L'Histoire du Soldat" with texts from Urrea's writings. Series: "Helen Edison Lecture Series" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 33265]

Luis Urrea is a prolific writer who uses his dual-culture life experiences to explore greater themes of love, loss and triumph. Born in Tijuana to a Mexican father and American mother, Urrea is the critically acclaimed, best-selling author of 16 books. He talks with Steven Schick about his life and work, and their collaboration on a new version of Stravinsky's "L'Histoire du Soldat" with texts from Urrea's writings. Series: "Helen Edison Lecture Series" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 33265]

Luis Urrea is a prolific writer who uses his dual-culture life experiences to explore greater themes of love, loss and triumph. Born in Tijuana to a Mexican father and American mother, Urrea is the critically acclaimed, best-selling author of 16 books. He talks with Steven Schick about his life and work, and their collaboration on a new version of Stravinsky's "L'Histoire du Soldat" with texts from Urrea's writings. Series: "Helen Edison Lecture Series" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 33265]

Luis Urrea is a prolific writer who uses his dual-culture life experiences to explore greater themes of love, loss and triumph. Born in Tijuana to a Mexican father and American mother, Urrea is the critically acclaimed, best-selling author of 16 books. He talks with Steven Schick about his life and work, and their collaboration on a new version of Stravinsky's "L'Histoire du Soldat" with texts from Urrea's writings. Series: "Helen Edison Lecture Series" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 33265]

Luis Urrea is a prolific writer who uses his dual-culture life experiences to explore greater themes of love, loss and triumph. Born in Tijuana to a Mexican father and American mother, Urrea is the critically acclaimed, best-selling author of 16 books. He talks with Steven Schick about his life and work, and their collaboration on a new version of Stravinsky's "L'Histoire du Soldat" with texts from Urrea's writings. Series: "Helen Edison Lecture Series" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 33265]

Luis Urrea is a prolific writer who uses his dual-culture life experiences to explore greater themes of love, loss and triumph. Born in Tijuana to a Mexican father and American mother, Urrea is the critically acclaimed, best-selling author of 16 books. He talks with Steven Schick about his life and work, and their collaboration on a new version of Stravinsky's "L'Histoire du Soldat" with texts from Urrea's writings. Series: "Helen Edison Lecture Series" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 33265]

Luis Urrea is a prolific writer who uses his dual-culture life experiences to explore greater themes of love, loss and triumph. Born in Tijuana to a Mexican father and American mother, Urrea is the critically acclaimed, best-selling author of 16 books. He talks with Steven Schick about his life and work, and their collaboration on a new version of Stravinsky's "L'Histoire du Soldat" with texts from Urrea's writings. Series: "Helen Edison Lecture Series" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 33265]

Luis Urrea is a prolific writer who uses his dual-culture life experiences to explore greater themes of love, loss and triumph. Born in Tijuana to a Mexican father and American mother, Urrea is the critically acclaimed, best-selling author of 16 books. He talks with Steven Schick about his life and work, and their collaboration on a new version of Stravinsky's "L'Histoire du Soldat" with texts from Urrea's writings. Series: "Helen Edison Lecture Series" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 33265]

Please join us for the roundtable discussion, Beyond Lolita: Literary Writers on Sex and Sexuality. The proceeds will benefit PEN American Center and its Writers' Emergency Fund. Joining us will be Robin Rinaldi, Wendy C. Ortiz, J. Ryan Stradal, and Julia Fierro. Moderated by Anna March, these events will be taking place in Boston, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Portland this coming November and January. Cheryl Strayed, Audrey Niffenegger, Rachel DeWoskin, Cathi Hanauer, Megan Stielstra, Benoit Denizet-Lewis, Elissa Schappell, Daniel Jones, Luis Urrea, Ashley Ford, Lidia Yuknavitch and many others are participating around the country. The events will be free but attendees will be encouraged to join and support PEN, and an additional $500 will be donated to PEN for each event to support its emergency fund for writers.Robin Rinaldi is a journalist and author of The Wild Oats Project: One Woman's Midlife Quest for Passion at Any Cost. Before she left her day job to write a book, Robin was executive editor at 7x7, a San Francisco city magazine. Prior to that she wrote an award-winning food column for Philadelphia Weekly. Robin has written for The New York Times, The Atlantic, Oprah Magazine, Yoga Journal, and others. Robin grew up in a small Pennsylvania town but has spent most of her life in California. She currently lives in Los Angeles, where she writes, reads, cooks peasant-style meals, does a lot of yoga, listens to a lot of music, watches a lot of premium cable dramas, and plays with her scruffy little terrier named Tengo (after the protagonist in 1Q84).Wendy C. Ortiz is a Los Angeles native. She is the author of Excavation: A Memoir, Hollywood Notebook, and the forthcoming Bruja. Wendy holds an M.A. in Clinical Psychology and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Antioch University Los Angeles. A Writer-in-Residence at Hedgebrook in 2007 and 2009, Wendy is also co-founder and curator of the Rhapsodomancy Reading Series. She has read and given talks at California State University Chico, University of California Santa Barbara, University of California Riverside's Low-Residency M.F.A. Program, and Lock Haven University. Wendy has been an adjunct faculty in creative writing and has also facilitated creative writing workshops with Los Angeles youth in juvenile detention facilities. While living in Olympia, Washington, she was a library worker, editor and publisher of 4th Street, a handbound literary journal, and an occasional mudwrestler. Wendy received a B.A. in Liberal Arts from The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, where she lived for eight years before returning to Los Angeles.She is at work on a book based on her Modern Love essay published in The New York Times, a short story collection, and other projects. Wendy is represented by Bridget Wagner Matzie of Zachary Shuster Harmsworth Literary Agency. She parents and works as a registered marriage and family therapist intern in Los Angeles.J. Ryan Stradal’s first novel, Kitchens of the Great Midwest, was published by Viking / Pamela Dorman Books on July 28th, 2015, and reached the New York Times Hardcover Best Seller list at #19 on its third week of release. In November 2014, the Pirate's Alley Faulkner Society awarded Kitchens of the Great Midwest first prize in their annual novel competition. In September 2015, Warner Bros. optioned the film/TV rights. A selection of his short stories, compiled under the title "Nerd & Whore are Friends," was a 2013 finalist in the Dzanc Books Short Story Collection Competition. His short fiction has also been anthologized, nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and named a finalist for the James Kirkwood Literary Prize. He works as the fiction editor at The Nervous Breakdown  and  as an editor-at-large at Unnamed Press in Los Angeles.  He was also editor of the 2014 California Prose Directory, an anthology of writing about California by California writers, published by Outpost19. He volunteers for & is on the advisory board of the educational non-profit 826LA. He also helps make products and materials for their affiliated store, the Echo Park Time Travel Mart. He likes books, wine, sports, root beer, and peas. Julia Fierro is the author of Cutting Teeth, which The New Yorker called “a comically energetic debut novel.” Her next novel, The Gypsy Moth Summer, will be published in 2017. Julia founded The Sackett Street Writers’ Workshop in 2002, and it has since grown into a creative home to over 2,500 writers. She lives in Brooklyn and Los Angeles.

Luis Alberto Urrea humorously draws audience members into his personal journey to connect with his own history. After growing up listening to family folklore about his great aunt Teresita, and her magical healing powers, he knew he had to keep her memory alive. He spent 26 years researching before he felt that he could properly tell the tale of this young Mexican Joan of Arc. Urrea's efforts magnificently culminated in "The Hummingbird's Daughter" and the sequel, "Queen of America."

Luis Alberto Urrea humorously draws audience members into his personal journey to connect with his own history. After growing up listening to family folklore about his great aunt Teresita, and her magical healing powers, he knew he had to keep her memory alive. He spent 26 years researching before he felt that he could properly tell the tale of this young Mexican Joan of Arc. Urrea's efforts magnificently culminated in "The Hummingbird's Daughter" and the sequel, "Queen of America."

Luis Urrea, author of “The Devil's Highway” and “The Hummingbird's Daughter,” talks about how his own search for identity provided fuel for his writing in this interview with host Dean Nelson, as part of the 2009 Writer's Symposium by the Sea, sponsored by Point Loma Nazarene University. Series: "Writer's Symposium By The Sea" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 15698]

Luis Urrea, author of “The Devil's Highway” and “The Hummingbird's Daughter,” talks about how his own search for identity provided fuel for his writing in this interview with host Dean Nelson, as part of the 2009 Writer's Symposium by the Sea, sponsored by Point Loma Nazarene University. Series: "Writer's Symposium By The Sea" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 15698]

Luis Urrea, author of “The Devil’s Highway” and “The Hummingbird’s Daughter,” talks about how his own search for identity provided fuel for his writing in this interview with host Dean Nelson, as part of the 2009 Writer’s Symposium by the Sea, sponsored by Point Loma Nazarene University. Series: "Writer's Symposium By The Sea" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 15698]

Luis Urrea, author of “The Devil’s Highway” and “The Hummingbird’s Daughter,” talks about how his own search for identity provided fuel for his writing in this interview with host Dean Nelson, as part of the 2009 Writer’s Symposium by the Sea, sponsored by Point Loma Nazarene University. Series: "Writer's Symposium By The Sea" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 15698]

Luis Urrea, author of “The Devil’s Highway” and “The Hummingbird’s Daughter,” talks about how his own search for identity provided fuel for his writing in this interview with host Dean Nelson, as part of the 2009 Writer’s Symposium by the Sea, sponsored by Point Loma Nazarene University. Series: "Writer's Symposium By The Sea" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 15698]

Luis Urrea, author of “The Devil’s Highway” and “The Hummingbird’s Daughter,” talks about how his own search for identity provided fuel for his writing in this interview with host Dean Nelson, as part of the 2009 Writer’s Symposium by the Sea, sponsored by Point Loma Nazarene University. Series: "Writer's Symposium By The Sea" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 15698]