We are proud to present a reading and conversation with Julia Alvarez. The conversation will be led by Manuel Muñoz.

Julia Alvarez is the author of numerous works of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Her novel In the Time of the Butterflies, with over one million copies in print, was selected by the National Endowment for the Arts for its national Big Read program, and in 2013 President Obama awarded Alvarez the National Medal of Arts. She was the subject of an American Masters documentary, “Julia Alvarez: A Life Reimagined," on PBS. She’ll publish the poetry collection Visitations in spring 2026.  

Manuel Muñoz is the author of a novel, What You See in the Dark, and the short-story collections Zigzagger and The Faith Healer of Olive Avenue, which was shortlisted for the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award.  He is the recipient of fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York Foundation for the Arts.  He has been recognized with a Whiting Writer’s Award, three O. Henry Awards, and two selections in Best American Short Stories, and was awarded the 2023 Joyce Carol Oates Prize. His most recent collection, The Consequences, was published by Graywolf Press and in the UK by The Indigo Press in October 2022.  It was a finalist for the Aspen Words Literary Prize and longlisted for the Story Prize.  In October 2023, he was honored with a MacArthur Fellowship for "depicting with empathy and nuance the Mexican-American communities of California's Central Valley."

In addition to the in-person reading, most Reading & Lecture Series events are streamed live on our website.