News Release| CSULA; Cal State L.A.; Los Angeles; CSU; One Campus, One Book; The Tattooed Soldier; Hector Tobar

January 21, 2009

Meet the man who penned ‘The Tattooed Soldier’ Jan. 27

Héctor Tobar’s first novel selected as Cal State L.A.’s One Campus, One Book

Los Angeles, CA – Héctor Tobar, author of the suspense-filled novel “The Tattooed Soldier,” will discuss many themes of the immigrant experience along with the Los Angeles urban experience on Tuesday, Jan. 27, from 3:15 - 4:20 p.m., in the University-Student Union Theatre, on the Cal State L.A. campus.

“The Tattooed Soldier” was selected by the University Library as Cal State L.A.’s 2008-09 One Campus, One Book—a campus-wide initiative to encourage the campus community to read and explore a single book collectively.

Tobar said, “’The Tattooed Soldier’ was born from my experiences as the son of Guatemalan immigrants, and as a young reporter assigned to cover the impoverished neighborhoods of central Los Angeles.” The book is published in paperback by Penguin Books and was a finalist for the PEN USA West Award for Fiction.

Tobar was born in Los Angeles, Calif., in 1963, to parents who had recently moved to the United States from Guatemala. After attending UC Santa Cruz, he worked briefly for a local paper in San Francisco before moving on to the Los Angeles Times. He won a Pulitzer Prize with fellow staff members for his coverage of the Los Angeles riots. Tobar took time off from the paper in the mid-1990s to study creative writing at UC Irvine, where he earned an M.F.A.

For more about the author, go to http://www.hectortobar.com/

For details about the One Campus, One Book initiative at Cal State L.A., go to /library/ocob/ or call the University Library at (323) 343-3950.


 

Calendar listing:

Event:  “The Tattooed Soldier” – A lecture and book signing by Héctor Tobar. (Free to the public)

Time:  Tuesday, Jan. 27, 3:15 - 4:20 p.m.

Place:  University-Student Union Theatre, on the Cal State L.A. campus.  The University is located at the Eastern Avenue exit of the San Bernardino (10) freeway, at the intersection of the 10 and 710 freeways.

Parking:  Permit dispenser parking in upper level of Parking Structure C.

Information:  Call the University Library at (323) 343-3950.

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