September Meeting - “Where I used to be from – the past in memoir and fiction" Presenter Eduardo Santiago

September Meeting

Presenter: Eduardo Santiago

Cuban-born Eduardo Santiago's first novel Tomorrow They Will Kiss was an Edmund White Debut Fiction Award finalist and won Latino Book Award for Best Historical Novel. His second book, Midnight Rumba, won the New England Book Award - Best Fiction. His short stories have appeared in ZYZZYVA, Slow Trains, and The Caribbean Writer, his nonfiction was published in the Los Angeles Times, The Advocate, and Out Traveler Magazine. He is currently writing his next novel, The Weight Of My Shadow.

Mr. Santiago holds an MFA in Creative Writing form Antioch University, taught creative writing at UCLA Extension’s Writers Program for seven years, and  currently teaches at Idyllwild Arts Academy. He is the founder of the Idyllwild Authors Series.

Topic: Where I used to be from – the past in memoir and fiction

Cuba – My X generation – how Gen X Cuban writers changed how I write my past.
Point of View
Fiction -The Mambo Kings Sing Songs Of Love by Oscar Hijuelos
Fiction - Tomorrow They Will Kiss by Eduardo Santiago

• Fiction - Make Your Home Among Strangers by Jennine Capo Crucet.
• Nonfiction The Prince of Los Cocuyos by Richard Blanco
• Lecture: Cuba Visits – 1996 and 2010

Tears for Fears – Senses - Finding the courage to travel back and write it honestly.
Senses
Non Fiction The Kiss by Kathryn Harrison
Non Fiction The Sexual Life of Catherine M by Catherine Millet

Make it Sing – How to find the poetry in your past.
Detail
Non Fiction Where I Was From by Joan Didion
Novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Here vs. There – Let contrast help you define the setting. 10 minutes
Plot
Handout

Fiction and Non – The Santa Ana winds as seen through the works of fiction and non-fiction writers.
Imagery
Hand out