Amada Irma Pérez

THOUSAND OAKS, CA - The public is invited to hear award-winning author Amada Irma Pérez of Ventura speak from 10:15 to 11:15 a.m. Thursday, June 21, at California Lutheran University.

The free public presentation in Preus-Brandt Forum is part of a literacy workshop for kindergarten through 12th-grade educators being presented by the California Reading and Literature Project at CLU.

Pérez wrote “My Very Own Room/Mi propio cuartito,” “My Diary from Here to There/Mi diario de aquí hasta allá” and “Nana’s Big Surprise/Nana ¡Que sorpresa!” The books, all published by Children’s Book Press, have received many honors including the American Library Association’s Pura Belpré Honor Award, Tomás Rivera Mexican-American Children’s Book Award and the International Latino Book Award. Her stories are beloved for their humorous details and universal themes of family support, love and friendship.

Her most recent book, published in 2011, is “My Handy Writing Book: A New, Fun & Easy Way to Write Stories.” She wrote it to help students write better narratives. Pérez speaks at conferences, festivals, libraries and schools.

She had been a classroom teacher for kindergarten through graduate-level students for more than 25 years when she wrote her first story, “My Very Own Room/Mi propio cuartito,” while participating in the Southwest Writing Project at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The programdirector and her fellow writers encouraged her to publish it.

The forum is located south of Olsen Road between Mountclef Boulevard and Campus Drive on the Thousand Oaks campus.

To reserve a spot, contact Devon Dooley at 805-493-3705 or ddooley@callutheran.edu by June 14.