Beyond Borders: Storytelling and the Immigrant Experience
Reyna Grande is an award-winning Mexican-American author known for her powerful portrayals of the immigrant experience. Her memoirs, The Distance Between Us and A Dream Called Home, chronicle her own journey crossing the US-Mexico border as a child. Grande's novels, including cross a Hundred Mountains, Dancing with Butterflies, and A Ballad of Love and Glory, explore themes of family, identity, and social justice. Her work has earned her critical acclaim and numerous awards, including the American Book Award. Grande is a passionate advocate for immigrants' rights and uses her platform to give voice to their stories.Her books have been adopted as the common read selection by schools, colleges, and cities across the country.
Grande has received an American Book Award, the El Premio Aztlán Literary Award, and the International Latino Book Award. She was a finalist for the prestigious National Book Critics Circle Awards. She was honored with a Luis Leal Award for Distinction in Chicano/Latino Literature, a Latino Spirit Award, and a Writers for Writers Award from Poets & Writers. The young reader’s version of The Distance Between Us received an International Literacy Association Children’s Book Award.
Ms. Grande will deliver the Gould Center for Humanistic Studies' 2025 Ricardo J. Quinones Lecture.