004-LB-02

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Jan. 8, 2003

MEDIA ADVISORY/CALENDAR LISTING

Four Acclaimed Authors Lead Panel on Indigenous Voices in North American Culture

EVENT:
A panel discussion and reading celebrating the vitality of North America's native languages and culture will be presented by the UC Irvine International Center for Writing and Translation (ICWT). "Indigenous Voices in North American Culture" presents four acclaimed scholars and authors who will read from their works and lead discussion about the place of this important heritage on North America. The free event is open to the public and includes a reception and book signing. In conjunction with this event, the ICWT and the UCI Film and Video Center will show "Atanarjuat (The Fast Runner)" Saturday, Feb. 1. The film won the Cannes Film Festival's Caméra d'Or Award in 2001.

DATES & TIMES:
Thursday, Jan. 30, 2003
4:30 p.m., seminar, Humanities Instructional Building, room 135
6 p.m., reception, Humanities Instructional Building, room 137
7 p.m., reading, Humanities Instructional Building, room 100
8:30 p.m., book signing, Humanities Instructional Building, room 135

Saturday, Feb. 1, 2003
7:30 p.m., film screening of "Atanarjuat (The Fast Runner)," Humanities
Instructional Building, room 100.

PRESENTERS:
Haunani-Kay Trask is an indigenous Hawaiian poet, nationalist and political organizer. Trask is a member of Ka Lahui Hawaii, the largest sovereignty organization in Hawaii, and has represented Hawaii's indigenous people at the United Nations Working Group on Indigenous Peoples in Geneva. She is author of "From a Native Daughter: Colonialism and Sovereignty in Hawaii" and collections of poetry including "Light in the Crevice Never Seen" and "Night is a Sharkskin Drum." She is also co-producer of the award-winning documentary "Act of War: Overthrow of the Hawaiian Nation." Currently, she is a professor of Hawaiian studies and director of The Center for Hawaiian Studies at the University of Hawaii.

Simon Ortiz is a poet, fiction writer, essayist and storyteller. Raised in the Acoma Pueblo of New Mexico, Ortiz has written more than 20 books of poetry and prose, including "Woven Stone," "From Sand Creek" and "Out There Somewhere." Winner of lifetime achievement awards from the Western States Arts Federation and the Worldcraft Circle of Native Writers, Ortiz has also been honored at a White House Salute to American Poets and Poetry. He is currently a professor of English at the University of Toronto.

Greg Sarris is the author of many works including "Keeping Slug Woman Alive: A Holistic Approach to American Indian Texts," "Watermelon Nights," a novel, and "Grand Avenue," an award-winning collection of short stories that was adapted for an HBO mini-series of the same name. Acclaimed by "Contemporary Authors" as "one of the most recognizable figures in the California Native American's fight not only to reclaim lost land and obtain federal recognition, but also to forge a voice in which they can tell their own story," Sarris is chairman of the Federated Indians of the Graton Rancheria. He also holds the Fletcher Jones Chair of Literature and Writing at Loyola Marymount University.

Patricia Penn Hilden, a professor of ethnic studies/Native American studies at UC Berkeley, is the author of "When Nickels Were Indians: An Urban, Mixed-Blood Story" and "Working Women and Socialist Politics in France, 1880-1914: A Regional Study." Her research interests concern both the history of Native North Americans sold into slavery in the Caribbean from 1630 to 1750 and the more comparative issues of representations of gender, ethnicity and race in public venues, including museums, public festivals and celebrations of citizenship.

Moderator: Gabriele Schwab, Chancellor's Professor of English and Comparative Literature at UCI, is the author of "The Mirror and the Killer-Queen: Otherness in Literary Language." She has developed a theory of reading as cultural contact from various interdisciplinary perspectives, exploring the intersections between literature, politics, culture and psychology.

INFORMATION: (949) 824-1948, or icwt@uci.edu

BACKGROUND: This event is the first in a series of talks, seminars and performances titled "From Here to There: Languages in Conversation," which will bring distinguished writers and scholars working in and from marginalized languages and cultures to UCI to discuss the relationships between the language of their culture and the dominant language. The series is sponsored by the ICWT. Additional support is provided by UCI's Cross Cultural Center and the Department of English and Comparative Literature. The ICWT is a partner of the International Institute of Modern Letters at Las Vegas.

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Contact:
Lori Brandt
(949) 824-5484
lbrandt@uci.edu

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