[Cwgrad-announcements] LA Times article on us

[Ky-Phong Tran]

If you haven't read this yet, it made my day.  Here's the article link, 

http://www.calendarlive.com/books/cl-et-inlandia9dec09,0,4590829.story

but here's THE quote that is worth its weight in gold and is gonna put some waves in the MFA waters.  I don't know about y'all, but it makes me even want to step my game up even more.
Hooray for us!!!!
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For Morton and others who believe in the power of literature, a true picture of the IE's ethnic diversity and struggles may be just what the place needs. "What's striking about the book is the sheer quality of writing coming out of the Inland Empire, especially the writing program at UC Riverside," said Mike Davis, an author and urban theorist known for his apocalyptic works on L.A., "City of Quartz" and "Ecology of Fear."

Fontana-born Davis, who has a piece in the book, said the Riverside program is turning out some of the best young writers in the country. Students at the more celebrated UC Irvine program (where Davis once taught) have the writing chops but not the multigenerational, multiethnic life experiences of kids in the IE.

"This is the future now," Davis said. "This is where young voices are apt to be most interesting."

Mike Davis is considered one of southern California's most important historians,  the winner of  a MacArthur "Genius" Grant, and a leader in urban theory and thought.   I always loved him and now I love him even more.