August 8, 2006 Juan Felipe Herrera To Receive Americas Award for Children's and Young Adult Literature on Sept. 16

Juan Felipe Herrera will receive the 2005 Americas Award for Children's and Young Adult Literature at the 13th annual award presentation hosted by the Library of Congress from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Sept. 16, in the Mumford Room on the sixth floor of the James Madison Building, 101 Independence Ave. S.E., Washington, D.C.

The award is sponsored by the Consortium of the Latin American Studies Program (CLASP) at the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. The Library's Hispanic Division and Center for the Book will host the event, which is free and open to the public. A continental breakfast will be served at 9:30 a.m. Reservations are required and can be made through the Hispanic Division at (202) 707-2013.

Herrera will be honored for his book "Cinnamon Girl: Letters Found Inside a Cereal Box" (HarperCollins, Joanne Cotler Books, 2005). At the event, Herrera will discuss his book and sign copies.

Herrera is professor and holder of the Tomas Rivera Endowed Chair in the Department of Creative Writing at the University of California, Riverside. He is the author of "Love After the Riots" and several collections of poetry, including "Akrilica" and "Night Train to Tuxtla."

The Americas Award recognizes outstanding U.S. works of fiction, poetry, folklore or selected nonfiction published in the previous year "that authentically and engagingly portray Latin America, the Caribbean or Latinos in the United States." More information about the Americas Award and CLASP can be found at www.uwm.edu/Dept/CLACS External.

The Hispanic Division, established in 1939, is the Library's center for the study of the cultures and societies of Latin America and the Caribbean, the Iberian Peninsula and other areas where Spanish and Portuguese influence have been significant. For more information about the division's resources, visit www.loc.gov/rr/hispanic.

The Center for the Book, established in 1977 as a public-private partnership, uses the resources of the Library of Congress to stimulate public interest in books and reading. For information about its projects and publications and the activities of its affiliates in 50 states and the District of Columbia, visit www.loc.gov/loc/cfbook/.