Sonoma County Library Presents: Virtual Author Talk with Francisco Jimenez

Virtual Author Talk with Francisco Jiménez on his experience growing up in a family of migrant workers. He will describe his process used in writing his memoir series—“The Circuit,” “Breaking Through,” Reaching Out” and Taking Hold”—and explain why he writes.

In this presentation, Francisco Jiménez will describe in detail the six-step process he used in writing his four-book memoirs series - The Circuit, (Cajas de cartón), Breaking Through (Senderos fronterizos), Reaching Out (Más allá de mí), Taking Hold: From Migrant Childhood to Columbia University (Pasos firmes: de niñez migrante a la Universidad de Columbia) - and explain why he writes and why it is important to tell your story. This talk will be a useful guide for audiences to tell/write their own stories.

“When we tell our stories, we make connections and when we make connections we break down those walls that separate us from one another,” said Author Francisco Jiménez, an upcoming speaker at one of the author talks. 

This presentation will kick off a call for submissions of immigrant’s stories of coming to the U.S. for an anthology called “Arrivals and Departures”. For more information on how to participate in the anthology, email: jayala@sonomalibrary.org

About the Author: Author and educator, Francisco Jiménez emigrated with his family from Tlaquepaque, Mexico to California and as a child worked alongside his parents in the fields of California. He received his BA from Santa Clara University and an MA and Ph.D. in Latin American literature from Columbia University under a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship.

The author talk events are made possible thanks to a California Humanities Grant.
 
The California Humanities Library Innovation Lab in partnership with the Sonoma County Library Adult Literacy Program are also creating an anthology entitled “Arrivals and Departures.” This collection will feature stories of immigrants throughout Sonoma County and highlight their experience in their own words.
 
Share your story about leaving your home country and seeking your future in the United States. Submissions are accepted in written and oral form and are due by September 30. Visit sonomalibrary.org/arrivals-departures to learn more.
 
The views expressed by presenters are their own and their appearance in a program does not imply an endorsement of them or any entity they represent. Reference to any specific product or entity does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation by the Sonoma County Library.