As we look ahead to Latine / Hispanic Heritage Month—which runs annually from September 15th through October 15th—we are honored to spotlight these storytellers, scholars, and journalists who offer critical context for Latinx identity in all its facets. Their talks inspire audiences with thorough analysis and moving anecdotes of heritage, community, and personhood.
Ingrid Rojas Contreras
Author of Fruit of the Drunken Tree and The Man Who Could Move Clouds
Speaking Topics & Expertise:
- Speaks about brown Latinx identity, cultural and physical borders, stories in migration, and what is lost in translation
- Explores the politics of interpersonal power, the violence perpetrated against the women in her family across three generations, and the marks these experiences carve
Kali Fajardo-Anstine
National Book Award Finalist and author of Sabrina & Corina and Woman of Light
Speaking Topics & Expertise:
- Discusses the nature of claiming one’s identity, whether that be racial, familial, economic, or social
- Shows the power of resiliency in understanding where you come from, drawing on her experience as a mixed race woman
Dan-el Padilla Peralta
Princeton University professor and author of Undocumented
Speaking Topics & Expertise:
- Chronicles his remarkable journey from the rough streets of New York City to the top of his class at Princeton, offering an honest and inspiring glimpse of the American immigrant experience
- Explores the hardships faced by immigrants, chasing the American dream
Matt de la Peña
New York Times-bestselling author of books for children and young adults
Speaking Topics & Expertise:
- Offers insight into what it means to have a mixed identity in America
- Explores the socio-economic issues many immigrants face
Javier Zamora
Memoirist, poet, and author of Solito
Speaking Topics & Expertise:
- Explores how identity influences our ideas of home and brings humanity and warmth to the figure of the “immigrant”
- Speaks on how writing can help heal process and heal trauma
Cristina Henríquez
Critically acclaimed author of The Book of Unknown Americans
Speaking Topics & Expertise:
- Speaks about identity and addresses common narratives about immigration
- Shares the varied human stories behind the ongoing debate about immigration through the eyes of characters from all over Latin America