Dominican-American poet, novelist, and essayist, Alvarez rose to prominence with the novels How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents (1991), In the Time of the Butterflies (1994), and ¡Yo! (1997). The story of In the Time of the Butterflies was adapted into a feature film in 2001. Her publications as a poet include The Housekeeping Book (1984) and The Woman I Kept to Myself (2004), and as an essayist the autobiographical compilation Something to Declare (1998). Many commentators regard her to be one of the most significant Latina writers, and she has achieved critical and commercial success on an international scale.
Alvarez also founded Alta Gracia, a sustainable farm in the Dominican Republic that produces organic coffee and also serves as a literacy center. She currently lives in Vermont, where she is a writer in residence at Middlebury College.
Lecture: 7:30 pm, Wednesday March 31, 2010 in Colton Chapel. Lecture will be followed by a reception and book signing.