Writer Ana Castillo will return to her native Chicago to discuss her works Thursday at the Chicago Public Library Cultural Center.
Castillo`s first novel, ”The Mixquiahuala Letters,” won the Before Columbus Foundation`s American Book Award in 1987. Her poetry collections include ”Women are Not Roses” (1984) and ”My Father was A Toltec” (1988). A professor of English at California State University in Chico, Calif., Castillo grew up in Chicago`s Mexican-American community. Many of her writings focus on her early experiences in the Midwest and how Hispanics often feel torn between tradition and the lure of a fast-paced American lifestyle.
The author, a 1975 graduate of Northeastern Illinois University, now lives in San Francisco.
Castillo will appear through the Chicago Public Library`s ”Writers in Conversation” series, presented on the fourth Thursday of every month by the library`s literature and language department. The discussion is free and will begin at 12:15 p.m. in the Cultural Center theater, 78 E. Washington St., 2d floor; 269-2800.