Letter to the Campus Community

Dear CBC Community,

We are very fortunate this year to have Sandra Cisneros as our featured writer for LitFest 2009. She will be speaking and signing books at CBC at 7pm on May 5 in the Gjerde Center and giving presentations at both Kennewick and Pasco High Schools during her time here.

In conjunction with her visit, we want to encourage everyone at CBC, including faculty, staff, and students, to read her books. Her visit is prompted in part by the 25th Anniversary of the publication of her book, The House On Mango Street. Her other works include the novel, Caramelo, two other collections, Loose Woman and Woman Hollering Creek, as well as other poems, essays, and works for children.

We are hoping some of you will be interested in forming book groups focused on her work. This can be done formally or informally, but if you do form a group, please let me know. We would also like to see student involvement, so we are hoping you will share this information with students. We are working in constructing a blog for staff and students who participate. There has also been discussion about hosting a faculty symposium on her work and issues related to it. More information will be forthcoming in the next two weeks.

In the meantime, we’d like to invite you to attend our Kick-Off event in the HUB this Wednesday, the Marathon Read.

Contact information:

• For questions about Sandra’s visit or book groups, contact me, Gwen James.
• For questions about the Marathon Read, contact Michael Lee.
• For questions about the Faculty Symposium, contact Martin Valadez.
• For questions about the blog, contact Ying Yu.

On behalf of LitFest 2009 and the Teaching and Learning Committee, thank you in advance for your participation and support.

Gwen James
Co-Chair of the CBC Teaching and Learning Committee