On June 12th at 7 pm, award-winning novelist Reyna Grande will speak to the Madison community at Overture Center of the Arts as part of the UnityPoint Health’s Meriter women’s Speaker Series.
Grande is a passionate writer and advocate for immigration rights and reform. She originally immigrated from Mexico at 9 years old and has been in the U.S. for 30 years.
One of her most notable novels is titled The Distance Between Us, (Atria, 2012) a memoir about her life in Mexico.
Grande is a University of California-Santa Cruz alum and received her Master of Fine arts in creative writing from Antioch University. She began writing at 13 years old.
“Writing was my way to finding a home in this country … a place to belong,” she tells Madison365 in an interview.
Grande was originally pushed to pursue creative writing during her undergrad by one of her English professors. Since, she has used writing as a tool to share her personal experiences and advocate for immigrant rights. Grande is an activist for Immigration reform, specifically a reform that views immigration “in a way that humanizes immigrants,” she says.
Grande’s very own family immigrated to the U.S. in three waves: first her father, then her mother and eventually she and all her siblings made their way to Los Angeles to reconnect with each other. Grande recalls that these transitions took a very large toll on her family. Each of them sacrificed in order to create a new life in the U.S.. She hopes that through sharing her own experiences, she can help others understand how to have more compassion for those who risk their lives to immigrate to the U.S..
She uses her activism to fight the narrative that immigrants steal jobs or defy “the system.” Her work gives immigrant stories a platform to be heard and understood. She asks that her audiences “voice support and put it into action.”
The Women’s Series speakers are intended to leave “family, friends and colleagues inspired by these powerful stories of strength, hope and resilience,” according to UnityPoint Health. Tickets to Grande’s speech are currently on sale at Overture.org.
This piece was produced by a student in the Madison365 Academy. To learn more or support our educational programs, visit madison365.org/academy.