The University of New Mexico

NEWS RELEASE

 


Contact: Carolyn Gonzales 277-5920;
cgonzal@unm.edu

Oct. 3, 2006

Noted Novelist to Join UNM English Faculty

In the spring, novelist Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez will join the faculty in the University of New Mexico Department of English as a part-time instructor in fiction, teaching Eng. 521, the graduate-level prose fiction workshop in the master's in fine arts program.

Valdes-Rodriguez is the author of “The Dirty Girls Social Club,” a New York Times bestseller published by St. Martins in 2001 and widely credited with starting a trend in popular fiction known as “chica-lit.” She is the founder of the Chica Lit Club Fiesta, an annual literary conference currently moving its base from Miami to Albuquerque. Valdes-Rodriguez 's other books include “Playing with Boys,” “Make Him Look Good,” and a new teen novel titled “Haters.”

A native of Albuquerque, Valdes-Rodriguez is the daughter of long-time UNM Sociology Professor Nelson Valdes. She earned a bachelor's from the Berklee College of Music in Boston and continues to play jazz saxophone. After earning a master's in journalism from Columbia University, she was hired as a feature writer for the Boston Globe at the age of 24, winning awards and garnering a Pulitzer Prize nomination. Five years later, she joined the staff of the Los Angeles Times.

Her fiction has given Valdes-Rodriguez a considerable public profile. Entertainment Weekly named her a breakout literary star. Latina magazine named her a Woman of the Year. Hispanic Business magazine has twice named her among the 100 most influential Hispanics in the nation. Very recently, Time magazine named her one of the 25 most influential Hispanics in America, alongside Bill Richardson, Jennifer Lopez and others.

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