Meet author Gary Soto at Tulare County Library

The Friends of the Tulare County Library will hold its annual fall Meet the Author event, featuring Gary Soto, which will take place at 4 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 7.

“Join us as internationally-known author Soto speaks about his soon-tobe released book ‘Meatballs for the People: Proverbs to Chew On,’” said Win Doyle, with the Tulare County Library.

Doyle said the short writings range from serious, to satirical, to lighthearted and include such delicacies as “If you eat the bagel/the hole will disappear.”

Author of more than 40 books for children, teens, and adults, Doyle said Soto draws from his life experiences as a child of the barrio in Fresno to create his poems, novels and essays. Doyle said Soto’s poem, “Oranges,” the most anthologized poem in contemporary literature, speaks to the encounter of small graces that can happen in the lives of children.

Doyle said Soto’s “New and Selected Poems” was a finalist for both the National Book Award and the Los Angeles Times Book Award in 1995. Doyle said one of Soto’s aims is to “start Chicanos reading.”

For his work in this area, NBC featured Soto as a Person of the Week in 1999.

Translated into French, Japanese, Italian, Korean and Spanish, Doyle said Soto’s books sold four million copies in the United States alone.

A recipient of fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts (twice), Doyle said Soto first studied poetry at California State University, Fresno and earned his master’s degree in creative writing from the University of California at Berkeley. Doyle said Soto went on to teach Chicano studies at the university and was an associate professor of both Chicano studies and English until 1995.

Doyle said the Friends of the Tulare County Library is an association for people who love libraries, reading, books, volunteering, and raising money to enhance public library services.

For more information about becoming a Friend of Tulare County Library, Doyle said to contact the library’s volunteer coordinator at 713-2709 or go to www.tularecountylibrary.org.

Doyle said the Tulare County Library serves all the citizens of Tulare County with locations in 17 communities, four book machines, and online at www.tularecountylibrary.org.

Doyle said to Like the library on Facebook at www.facebook.com/tularecountylibrary or follow it on Twitter at twitter.com/tularecountylib.