Acclaimed fiction writer Dagoberto Gilb will be reading at DePaul next WEDNESDAY, February 29th. The event–co-sponsored by the Department of English and the Center for Latino Research–will take place at 6 p.m. in room 115 of the library, a lovely new reading space on the main floor.

Gilb is the author of The Flowers, Gritos, Woodcuts of Women, The Last Known Residence of Mickey Acuña and The Magic Blood, which won the PEN/Hemingway Award. He wrote his new collection of stories, Before the End, After the Beginning, in the months following a stroke Gilb suffered at his home in Austin, Texas, in 2009. The result is a powerful and triumphant collection that tackles common themes of mortality and identity. A sampling of praise for the book:

“Stark, realistic, and told in mostly gritty matter-of-fact prose . . . Gilb portrays his characters simply and powerfully, without apology; even his unnamed characters represent the plight of not only every working-class Mexicano but Everyman.” —Boston Globe

“Dagoberto Gilb’s mission in Before The End, After the Beginning is not to dazzle and amaze, but to implode myths and misconceptions, to expose us to forgotten and subterranean characters in constant transition and exile; characters inured to injury and pain, heartbreak and woe—yet who never jettison hope for a better life, nor a future uncertain, yet still very much possible. These Chicano dreamers are lovelorn and love-tossed, broken-yet-healing, but most of all, on the road to recovery from an America that shuts its eyes and ears at their very existence. Gilb shows us that every man, woman and child is a citizen of hope, succors the birthright of love and freedom in their hearts, and sin fronteras, can, and will, emerge victorious. Make no mistake about it, by the end of Before The End, After the Beginning, you will be dazzled. And amazed.”—ZZ Packer

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Several DePaul English Graduate students have gotten the chance to share their work on the radio via Radio DePaul’s Student Writers Series. If you’ve enjoyed this or any other Radio DePaul program, consider voting for Radio DePaul in the annual MTV Woodie Award for Best College Radio Station. Radio DePaul has already made it into the top 25, so all you have to do is click over to blog.ratemyprofessors.com/collegeradiowoodie and click one more time to cast your vote! This round of voting ends Monday, February 27th.

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The Summer Literary Seminars writing contest has extended its deadline. By popular demand and due to multiple requests from those attending the AWP Conference in Chicago, they have decided to extend the contest deadline to March 6th, 2012. Look for Summer Literary Seminars at their table at the AWP book fair.

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And finally, it has just been announced that acclaimed Iraqi author Mahmoud Saeed, a writer in residence at DePaul will be teaching a literature course this Spring quarter. In MOL 309-301: The Novelist’s World, atudents will study his own works, in English. The class will be held at the Lincoln Park Campus T/TH 4:20-5:50pm. If you are interested in obtaining special permission to enroll in this unique class, please see your program director for more information.