[Cwgrad-announcements] Fwd: Susan Straight Recognition on April 3, 2008

[cwhitney]

>
> UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, RIVERSIDE PROFESSOR NAMED 2008 ALUMNUS OF  
> THE YEAR
> BY RIVERSIDE COMMUNITY COLLEGE
>
>
>             Novelist Susan Straight, a professor of creative  
> writing at the
> University of California, Riverside becomes the 50th person honored as
> Alumnus of the Year in the 92-year history of the Riverside Community
> College District.
>
>             Straight, author of seven novels, two children’s books,  
> and
> numerous short stories, essays and articles that have appeared in  
> major U.S.
> magazines, is a National Book Award finalist (Highwire Moon) and  
> recent
> winner of the Gold Medal for Fiction from the San Francisco-based
> Commonwealth Club. A native of Riverside, Straight attended  
> Riverside City
> College while still a student at North High School. It was at RCC  
> that she
> took her first creative writing class.
>
>             “Straight’s writing is known and respected  
> internationally,”
> said RCC Associate Professor Kris Anderson, who nominated Straight  
> for the
> Alumnus of the Year award. Anderson noted that Aquaboogie,  
> Straight’s first
> novel, was dedicated in part to her RCC creative writing  
> instructor, Bill
> Bowers. “Her writing—which often reflects her roots here—makes us  
> aware of
> ourselves by making us pay attention to where we are and who we  
> are. No one
> evokes our region more clearly, more compassionately or more  
> honestly.”
>
>             Straight’s lifetime affinity and love for what she once  
> called
> “every mile of my homeland,” is embodied by her strong connection  
> to RCC.
> After completing her BA at the University of Southern California  
> and her MFA
> degree from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Straight  
> returned to
> Riverside. For a time, she taught writing at RCC before moving  
> across town
> to UC Riverside. In 1998, she “officially” returned to RCC as the  
> inaugural
> lecturer of the Voices from the Americas series—a college/community  
> literary
> event launched by RCC, UC Riverside, La Sierra University, California
> Baptist University, and the Coalition for Common Ground.
>
>             In selecting Straight as Alumnus of the Year, the  
> committee
> referenced her literary and nonfiction works, as well as  
> recognitions that
> include the California Book Award, the Milkweed National Fiction  
> Award, the
> Pushcart Prize, an O. Henry Award, the Lannan Literary Award for  
> Fiction,
> and a Guggenheim Fellowship.
>
>             “We believe that Straight is an outstanding example of  
> how RCC
> touches lives in our communities,” said RCCD Chancellor Jim Buysse.
> “Talented, hardworking students come through our doors every day.  
> Some stay
> for a semester, others longer, but each one takes something special  
> away
> from this institution. And many, like Professor Straight, return to  
> the
> community and make a difference in the lives of new generations of  
> students.
> We are very proud to recognize her as the 2008 Alumnae of the Year.”
>
>             Straight, and six other individuals selected for public  
> service,
> teaching, and athletic achievement, will be honored at the RCC  
> Annual Awards
> Recognition event on April 3 at the historic Mission Inn. For more
> information about the event, call 951-222-8857.
>
>
>
> ###
>
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