Mexican-American Author Gary Soto To Hold Book Signing At Savia

Posted by: KHTS FM 98.1 & AM 1220 in Events February 6, 2014 - 12:12 pm 0 137 Views

Gary Soto, nationally recognized Mexican-American author will be at Savia in Newhall on Saturday, to talk about his life and career.

Students who have grown up with the books “Too Many Tamales,” “The Old Man and His Door” or “Chato and the Party Animals,” are familiar with the work of Mexican-American author Gary Soto.

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This Saturday, Soto will be at the Savia Community Center on Newhall Avenue, from 1 to 3 p.m. to talk to about his life and career. His books will also be available for purchase and signing.

Soto, a Fresno native, divides his time between Berkeley and his hometown.

He started writing when he was 20 years old and a student at Fresno City College. His works often focus on the Mexican-American experience, and the everyday life of children and teenagers in California, including first love, friendship and prejudice.

He is also well-known for his short stories and poetry for adults. His most recent collection, “What Poets are Like” was published in 2013.

Soto said that his goal in writing is to portray life as he sees it.

“I hear lines of poetry issue from the mouths of seemingly ordinary people,” he wrote on his website. “And, as a writer, my duty is not to make people perfect, particularly Mexican Americans. I’m not a cheerleader. I’m one who provides portraits of people in the rush of life.”

Soto’s work has appeared in several literary magazines and earned him fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as awards from the Hispanic Heritage Foundation, the National Education Association and the PEN Center USA.

Fresno City College also hosts the Gary Soto Literary Museum, which houses many works donated by Soto.

The free Gary Soto author event is one of several in the next two months, and is sponsored by the Friends of Santa Clarita Public Library and the city’s Cultural Landscape Initiative.