UCLA’s Graduate School of Education and Information Studies welcomes the U.S. Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera, who will deliver the 2017 Frances Clarke Sayers Lecture at 4 p.m. on Sunday, May 21, in the Northwest Campus Auditorium on the Hill. A reception and book signing at 5 p.m. will follow the lecture, with selected titles by Herrera available for sale at the event.
The son of migrant farm workers, Herrera was educated at UCLA and Stanford University. He earned his M.F.A. from the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop, and his numerous poetry collections include “187 Reasons Mexicanos Can’t Cross the Border: Undocuments 1971-2007,” “Half of the World in Light: New and Selected Poems,” and “Border-Crosser with a Lamborghini Dream.” In addition to publishing more than a dozen collections of poetry, Herrera has written short stories, young adult novels and children’s literature.
Herrera’s books for children and young adults have won several awards: “Calling the Doves” won the Ezra Jack Keats Award, and “Crashboomlove,” a novel-in-verse for young adults, won the Americas Award. “Half The World in Light” was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle prize in 2009.
As an activist, Herrera utilizes arts, poetry, language and creativity in order to develop community art organizations and galleries, prevent school violence and bullying, bring poetry to prisoners, and advocate on behalf of migrants, indigenous communities and at-risk youth.
In 2012, Herrera was named California’s Poet Laureate; in 2015, he was selected U.S. poet laureate.
Presented by the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, and the UCLA Department of Information Studies, the annual Frances Clarke Sayers Lecture is a tribute to former UCLA faculty member Frances Clarke Sayers, who was a noted American children’s librarian, author and lecturer. She was an outspoken advocate for excellence in children’s literature, making her one of the most influential children’s librarians of her generation.
Admission to this event is free, however, space is limited. Reservations can be made online. For more information, contact events@gseis.ucla.edu.