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Literature + Poetry

Closeup of 'The Book of Delights' with a library and people in the background
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Courtesy UC Santa Barbara Library

Author Ross Gay caps off UCSB Reads 2025 with appearance on campus

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man of East Asian descent in stadium with dramatic light
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Jeff Liang
Professor Sameer Pandya at UC Santa Barbara's Harder Stadium

In Sameer Pandya’s ‘Our Beautiful Boys,’ teenage secrets are the dark heart of suburbia
historical map of US with text in Spanish and flowers
Photo Credit
Illustration by Matt Perko
Flower picking as a metaphor for rediscovery — professor emerita Víctor Fuentes’ "Florilegio" gathers centuries of overlooked Spanish-language literature from the U.S.

Spanish-language writers and the making of a U.S. literary tradition
color photograph of writer Manuel Munoz standing on a staircase
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John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
2023 MacArthur Fellow Manuel Muñoz

Manuel Muñoz wins Luis Leal Award for Distinction in Chicano/Latino Literature
Black man grey beard
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Courtesy
Percival Everett, author of "James" (Doubleday 2024)

‘James’ author Percival Everett discusses reimagining ‘Huckleberry Finn’ and Black narratives with UCSB’s Stephanie Batiste
image of book and its author, William Davies King

Theater scholar’s culminating work unpacks masterpiece of the American stage
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Student-led art show explores perspectives on reproductive biology
suzanne jill levine
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Lydia Rubio
Suzanne Jill Levine, UC Santa Barbara distinguished professor emerita of Latin American literature and recipient of the 2024 PEN/Ralph Manheim Award for Translation

Pioneering translation’s artistry
photo of poet professor Michelle Petty-Grue
Photo Credit
Matt Perko
College of Creative Studies assistant teaching professor Michelle Petty-Grue, February 2024

Poet professor reflects on imagination, students and racism in America
UC Santa Barbara Professor Emeritus Francisco Lomelí
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Paul Meyers
UC Santa Barbara Professor Emeritus Francisco Lomelí at the International Latino Book Awards, October 2023

Compendium on Chicano poet laureate Juan Felipe Herrera strikes gold
Antonio Cortijo Ocaña dramatically lit in the Santa Barbara Courthouse mural room
Photo Credit
Debra Herrick
Antonio Cortijo Ocaña

What book inventories reveal about shifting cultural identities in New Spain
Writer Cherríe Moraga in 1982
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Barbara Adams
Writer Cherríe Moraga, 1982

Honoring her work to elevate issues of gender, sexuality and race, Cherríe Moraga’s seminal lesbian and Chicana text is expanded and re-released
Ecologies of Childhood conference logo
Photo Credit
Illustration by Maya Gonzalez

International literary conference explores the ‘ecologies of childhood’
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