Noted Authors of Diverse Backgrounds to Give Free Readings
at Long Island University’s Brooklyn Campus in October, November
- Include Edgardo Vega Yunqué, Janice Erlbaum, Jayne Cortez, Annecy Baez,
 Taha Muhammad Ali, Monique Truong and Heidi W. Durrow -

Brooklyn, N.Y. - Diverse authors from different parts of the world will read from their works at Long Island University’s Brooklyn Campus in October and November as part of the English Department’s multicultural “Voices of the Rainbow” reading series.  All events are free and open to the public.

Edgardo Vega Yunqué and Janice Erlbaum will start the readings on Monday, October 1, at 11 a.m. in the Health Sciences Building, Room 119, in a program co-sponsored by the Campus’s Latin American and Caribbean Studies. Program. Born in Puerto Rico, Vega Yunqué is the author of several satirical epic novels, including “The Lamentable Journey of Omaha Bigelow into the Impenetrable Loisaida Jungle,” “Mendoza’s Dreams,” “Blood Fugues” and “The Comeback.” Erlbaum has written “Girlbomb: A Halfway Homeless Memoir,” the harrowing story of her wayward adolescence filled with drugs, sex and living in shelters.  She is working on another memoir, “Have You Found Her?”

Jayne Cortez and Annecy Baez will read from their works on Wednesday, October 17, at noon in the Health Sciences Building, Room 119. Noted jazz poet Cortez, known for her spirited readings, has produced many volumes and recordings of her verse. Baez, from the Dominican Republic, writes poetry and is author of the short story collection, “My Daughter’s Eyes and Other Stories.”

Taha Muhammad Ali takes the podium on Tuesday, November 6, at 10 a.m. in the Health Sciences Building, Room 118. One of the best-known Palestinian poets and short story writers, Taha Muhammad Ali has written  “Never Mind” and “So What: New and Selected Poems, 1971-2005.”

Monique Truong and Heidi W. Durrow will share the stage on Tuesday, November 13, at noon in the Health Sciences Building, Room 119. Truong, from Saigon, is author of the novel, “The Book of Salt,” about the literary couple, Alice B. Toklas and Gertrude Stein, and their young Vietnamese cook, Binh. Durrow, of African-American and Danish heritage, has won several writing awards and is completing a novel, “Light-Skinned-ed Girl.”

The “Voices of the Rainbow” series is funded by the office of Provost Gale Stevens Haynes. For more information, call Louis Parascandola at (718) 488-1109.

Long Island University opened its Brooklyn Campus in 1926, welcoming a diverse population at a time when other major universities enforced quota systems against racial and ethnic minorities. Located at the corner of Flatbush Avenue Extension and DeKalb Avenue in Downtown Brooklyn, the Campus is accessible to all major bus and subway routes and the Long Island Rail Road.