#98-01-08
For Release: Jan. 21, 1998
Contact: Peter Bailley


Poet Ray Gonzalez to Speak
January 29 at Knox College

Poet, essayist and editor Ray Gonzalez will read from his new book of poems, "The Heat of Arrivals," at 6 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 29, in the Common Room, Old Main, at Knox College. The reading is free and open to the public.

Gonzalez is the author of two other books of poetry, "From the Restless Roots," and "Twilights and Chants." His memoir of growing up in the Southwest is entitled "Memory Fever: A Journey Beyond El Paso Del Norte." He is editor of sixteen anthologies, most recently "Currents from the Dancing River: Contemporary Latino Essays, Fiction and Poetry"; and "Muy Macho: Latino Men Confront Their Manhood." He served as poetry editor of The Bloomsbury Review for 15 years and is currently editor of Luna, a literary magazine based in Chicago.

Among his awards are a 1993 Before Columbus Foundation Book Award for Excellence in Editing, the 1997 Pen/Oakland Josephine Miles Award for, and a 1998 Illinois Arts Council Fellowship in Poetry. He teaches English and Latin American Studies at The University of Illinois at Chicago.

Founded in 1837, Knox is an independent, four-year, liberal arts college, located in Galesburg, Illinois, with 1,100 students from 42 states and 33 nations. Knox's "Old Main," a National Historic Landmark, is the only building remaining from the 1858 Lincoln-Douglas debates.

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