‘A Book Is Not a One Size Fits All’

podcastOPTalksBooks
Written By Open Plaza

Rev. Dr. Tony Tian-Ren Lin interviews award-winning author Reyna Grande

Books by Reyna Grande (clockwise spiral from left): Across a Hundred Mountains: A Novel (Atria, 2006); Spare Parts: The True Story of Four Undocumented Teenagers, One Ugly Robot, and an Impossible Dream (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2023); A Ballad of Love and Glory: A Novel (Atria, 2022); The Distance Between Us: A Memoir (Washington Square Press, 2013); Dancing with Butterflies: A Novel (Washington Square Press, 2009); Somewhere We Are Human: Authentic Voices on Migration, Survival, and New Beginnings (HarperVia, 2022); A Dream Called Home: A Memoir (Washington Square Press, 2019)

 
 

Rev. Dr. Tony Tian-Ren Lin talks to award-winning author Reyna Grande about her recent book, A Ballad of Love and Glory (Atria, 2022), a historical novel set in South Texas and Northern Mexico in the mid-1800s. The book marks a departure from her more personal work, such as her much-celebrated memoirs The Distance Between Us (Washington Square Press, 2013) and A Dream Called Home (Washington Square Press, 2019).

Born in Iguala, Guerrero, Mexico, she was two years old when her father left for the U.S. to find work. Her mother followed her father north two years later, leaving Grande and her siblings behind in Mexico. In 1985, when Grande was nine, she left Iguala to make her own journey north and ran across the US-Mexico border to reunite with her family. She lived as an undocumented immigrant for about five years. After attending Pasadena City College for two years, Grande became the first person in her family to set foot in a university.

"I went on to study creative writing because I fell in love with reading, with books and stories,” says Grande. Although she started writing when she was 13, she credits her English professor in community college with helping her realize “that I could pursue a career as a writer." Grande’s first novel Across a Hundred Mountains (Atria, 2006) would go on to launch her writing career. "I'm very grateful to be able to say that this is my job,” she adds. “Telling stories and being able to promote and advocate for my immigrant community through the stories that I tell."

WATCH

 
Featured
Reyna Grande

Reyna Grande holds a BA in Creative Writing and Film & Video from the University of California, Santa Cruz, as well as an MFA in creative writing from Antioch University. She is the author of the bestselling memoir The Distance Between Us (Atria, 2012) and the sequel, A Dream Called Home (Atria, 2018). Her other works include the novels Across a Hundred Mountains (Atria, 2006), Dancing with Butterflies (Washington Square Press, 2009), and The Distance Between Us Young Readers’ Edition (Aladdin, 2016). Her books have been adopted as the common-read selection by schools, colleges, and cities across the country. Her two most recent books are A Ballad of Love and Glory (Atria, 2022), a novel set during the Mexican-American War, and an anthology by and about undocumented Americans titled Somewhere We Are Human: Authentic Voices on Migration, Survival and New Beginnings (HarperVia, 2022). Grande has received an American Book Award, the El Premio Aztlán Literary Award, and a Latino Spirit Award. In 2012, she was a finalist for the prestigious National Book Critics Circle Awards, and in 2015, she was honored with a Luis Leal Award for Distinction in Chicano/Latino Literature. The young readers’ version of The Distance Between Us received a 2017 Honor Book Award for the Américas Award for Children’s and Young Adult Literature, a 2016 Eureka! Honor Awards from the California Reading Association, and a 2017 International Literacy Association Children’s Book Award. Writing about immigration, family separation, language trauma, the price of the American Dream, and her writing journey, Grande has written for many publications, including The New York Times, The Dallas Morning News, CNN, “The Lily” at The Washington Post, and Buzzfeed. In March of 2020, she appeared as a guest on Oprah’s Book Club television program.

Featured
Tony Lin

Rev. Dr. Tony Tian-Ren Lin is a Research Professor at New York Theological Seminary. He is a cultural sociologist whose scholarship focuses on the intersection of religion, immigration, race, and ethnicity. He is the author of Prosperity Gospel Latinos and Their American Dream (University of North Carolina Press, 2020), which Publisher’s Weekly praises as a “well-reasoned,” “evocative debut” that “immerse[s] readers in the lives of his subjects.” He was previously a Research Scholar at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture at the University of Virginia where he held numerous academic and administrative positions. Rev. Dr. Lin was born in Taiwan and grew up in Argentina. He holds a bachelor degree from Boston University, a Master of Divinity and Master of Theology from Princeton Theological Seminary, and a Master and Doctor of Philosophy in sociology from the University of Virginia. He is an ordained Presbyterian minister who has served churches in New Jersey and Virginia. His work has been featured in The Atlantic Monthly, The Washington Post, LatinoUSA, WNYC, and other venues.

Open Plaza
Previous

Hold It Together and Keep Going
Next

Intervenxions