In the Time of Butterflies -DU Enrichment: U.S. Latina Migrant Narratives–There's More to the Story

Lighthouse Writers Workshop is partnering with Denver Public Library and Denver Arts & Venues to bring the NEA Big Read to town this fall!

Lighthouse Writers Workshop, in partnership with Denver Arts & Venues and the Denver Public Library, invites you to #ReadWithUs this fall! As part of the NEA Big Read program, we'll be hosting a citywide discussion based on In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez, a novel about family, finding your voice, and fighting injustice.

We've partnered with arts organizations across the city to deliver a full slate of events, including book discussions, writing workshops, art-making sessions, live performances, and more. Copies of the book will be available at select locations throughout the city, as well as local bookstores and libraries.

Explore migrant narratives in news and literature in a five-week course through DU's Enrichment Program. Tuition is $195.

Tue., 6:30-8:30 pm, Oct. 8, 15, 22, 29, 2019
Inside the Writer's Studio, Wed., 7:30 pm, Nov. 6

When the Central American "migrant caravan" reached the U.S.-Mexico border in 2018, military troops sprayed the migrants, who were legally seeking asylum, with CS gas (a substance banned in warfare by the Geneva Protocol). Why has media coverage of immigration ignored the differing types of immigration procedures and the historical complexities of migration? Turning to literature often offers greater insight. Led by Assistant Professor of English Kristy Ulibarri, consider four U.S. Latina books about the migrant experience, primarily focusing on the distinct historical contexts and reasons for immigration. Valeria Luiselli's Tell Me How It Ends relates her experience with the U.S. Immigration Court’s interviews with current Central American child-migrants. How do those circumstances diverge from Helena María Viramontes', Under the Feet of Jesus, about young Mexican and Mexican-American migrant labor, which is rooted in the U.S.-Mexico guest-worker program of 1942? How should we understand the political coups and instability of the Caribbean and Latin America as represented in Christina Diaz Gonzalez's The Red Umbrella and Julia Alvarez's In the Time of Butterflies? How do these stories refute the sweeping generalizations about why people migrate? Conclude the course by attending Lighthouse Writers Workshop’s Inside the Writer’s Studio with Julia Alvarez, who will be discussing her wide range of work addressing the immigrant experience. 10% discount to Lighthouse Writers Workshop members.