Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with Illinois Libraries Present and Erika Sánchez, award-winning author of I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter. She will be joined in conversation by Cythia Pelayo.

Erika L. Sánchez is the daughter of Mexican immigrants. Her debut poetry collection, Lessons on Expulsion, was a finalist for the PEN America Open Book Award. Her debut young adult novel, I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter, was a New York Times bestseller, National Book Award finalist, and Tomás Rivera Award winner. Recognized by Time as one of the best YA novels of all time, I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter has also been adapted for the stage at Steppenwolf Theater in Chicago and is being made into a film directed by America Ferrera.

Sánchez’ critically acclaimed memoir-in-essays, Crying in the Bathroom, won the Chicago Review of Books Nonfiction award. Sánchez was a Fulbright Scholar, a Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent fellow from the Poetry Foundation, a Princeton Arts Fellow, a recipient of the 21st Century Award from the Chicago Public Library Foundation, and a recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship. She lives in Chicago with her family.

Cynthia Pelayo is a Bram Stoker Award winning and International Latino Book Award winning author and poet. Pelayo writes fairy tales that blend genre and explore concepts of grief, mourning, and violence. She is the author of Loteria, Santa Muerte, The Missing, Poems of My Night, Into the Forest and All the Way Through, Children of Chicago, Crime Scene, and The Shoemaker’s Magician.

Register at:  https://bit.ly/ILP_ErikaSanchez

This event is made possible by Illinois Libraries Present (ILP), a statewide collaboration among public libraries offering premier events. ILP is funded in part by a grant awarded by the Illinois State Library, a department of the Office of Secretary of State, using funds provided by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services, under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA). 

ILP is committed to inclusion and accessibility. To request accommodations, please email illinoislibrariespresent@gmail.com

FAQ

Will this program be recorded? 
Yes, with permission from Erika Sánchez to post for a limited time (14 days)

Where will the recording be posted? 
On Youtube. The link will be emailed to all Zoom registrants (those who attended the live event and those who did not). This email will include the final date to view the recording. The recording will also be viewable to the public on ILP’s YouTube channel. 

When will the recording be posted?
Within 5 days of the program (pending actual post-production time). It will be viewable for up to [14] days from post date.

Will the event be captioned?
The event will be live-captioned.