FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   DATE:  February 16, 2007        CONTACT: Dr. Elisabeth Merrman 361.825.5990; or Steve Paschal 361.825.2336 Mexican-American Author Benjamin Alire Saenz to Give Reading at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi Award-Winning Author to Participate in University’s Annual ‘Author’s Day’ CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi English Department will host a reading by Mexican-American poet and fiction writer Benjamin Alire Sáenz Thursday, Feb. 22 at 7 p.m. in the University Center, Bayview Room. The event is open to the public and will include a book signing following the reading. Sáenz received the American Book Award in 1991 for his Calendar of Dust, a collection of poetry about the American southwest and the discovery of the extraordinary in the ordinary lives of individuals living on the borderlands.  He also won the Southwest Book Award for his second collection of poetry, Dark and Perfect Angels (2002), and for his critically acclaimed novel Carry Me like Water (1995). His newest collection of poetry, Dreaming the End of War (2006), traces humanity’s addiction to violence and killing as it attempts to imagine peace in a world dependent on war. Besides poetry and fiction, Sáenz has published two bilingual children’s books, A Gift from Papa Diego, now in its sixth printing, and Grandma Fina and Her Wonderful Umbrellas, named the Best Children’s Book of 1999 by the Texas Institute of Letters. His first young adult novel, Sammy & Juliana in Hollywood was named one of the top ten Young Adult novels by the American Library Association. On Friday, Sáenz will conduct writing workshops for Moody and Miller High School students visiting the A&M-Corpus Christi campus. He will also take part in the 8th annual “Author’s Day,” one of the English department’s main literacy initiatives to expose high school students to English Studies at the university level Sáenz grew up in Picacho, New Mexico, and currently lives in El Paso where he teaches creative writing at the University of Texas at El Paso.