grew up in the barrio in Chicago's Humboldt Park neighborhood, where she was raised by Puerto Rican emigrant parents. One of six children, she was the first in her family to earn a college degree: a BA in Journalism from Northern Illinois University. She has won the Willow Review literary magazine fiction prize. In 2011, her unpublished coming-of-age novel, the Liberation of Carmela Lopez, was adapted into play form and directed by her daughter at Northwestern University.
Panel: Friday, 2:30-4:00 pm, Old Supreme Court Room; Sign: Friday, 4:00-4:30 pm, Signing Colonnade
