Pulitzer prize recipients Nazario, Bartletti to make ISU Reading Project presentations

Presentations at Idaho State University by Pulitzer-prize winning author Sonia Nazario on Oct. 28 and Pulitzer-prize winning photographer Don Bartletti on Nov. 3 will highlight the ISU Student Unions & Involvement 2008 Reading Project this fall. The 2008 Reading Project focuses on the book “Enrique’s Journey,” written by Nazario, who will talk about her book at 7 p.m. Oct. 28 at the ISU Pond Student Union Ballroom. A book signing and reception will follow Nazario’s presentation.

The 2008 Reading Project also will host Bartletti in the Pond Student Union Little Wood River Room at 6 p.m. Nov. 3 who will make the presentation “Photographs of Migration,” which will be followed by a reception in the Pond Student Union Transition Gallery.

Enrique’s Journey recounts the true, unforgettable odyssey of a Honduran boy who braves unimaginable hardship and peril to reach his mother in the United States.

“‘Enrique’s Journey’ is an exciting eye-opening story that captivates readers with detailed accounts of an ongoing situation in Central America,” said Corinne McCullough, Reading Project committee member. “Although this story is about one boy, it is the same story shared by many children born in Central American.  It describes the drive and determination of a child to escape poverty and reconnect with his family.”

Bartletti will describe his experience taking photos of children traveling north from Latin America to the United States in search of a better life.

In addition to his presentation, a two-part photo exhibit of his work will be displayed from Oct. 27 through Nov. 26 in the Pond Student Union Transition Gallery. The exhibit features two photo essays, “Bound to El Norte” and “Between Two Worlds.”

“Bound to El Norte” consists of color photographs of children making the strenuous journey to the United States on Mexican freight trains. This exhibit is the Pulitzer Prize-winning photo essay published in The Los Angeles Times as Enrique’s Journey.

“Between Two Worlds” contains black and white photographs illustrating conditions of the United States/Mexico border and provides insight to the lives of migrant workers in San Diego, Calif.

The ISU Student Unions, Cultural Affairs Council and Student Activities Board are sponsors of these events, which are free to the public.

For more information, contact Bonnie Frantz at 282-4245 or visit www.isu.edu/union/reading.

A complete list of 2008 Reading Project events is provided below.

2008 Reading Project events:

Tuesday, Oct. 28:

•    Meet the Author: Sonia Nazario at noon in the Pond Student Union Little Wood River Room

•    Keynote lecture by author Sonia Nazario followed by reception and book signing at 7 p.m. in the Pond Student Union Ballroom. The lecture will discuss the issue of child immigration from Latin America to the United States.

Wednesday, Oct. 29:

•    “The United States-Mexico Border: Undocumented Crossers, the Border Wall, and Environmental Impacts” presentation by ISU political science professor Donna Lybecker, Ph.D., at noon in the Pond Student Union Salmon River Suite. Lybecker will discuss how security changes, including increased border protection in urban areas and how the development of expanding border fencing and walls are impacting border region and the environment.

•    “Immigration Policies and Immigrant Realities” discussion at 7 p.m. in the Pond Student Union Salmon River Suite will focus on American immigration policies and how they are affecting our nation throughout history and today. Participants for this event are Allan Christelow, Ph.D., from the ISU History Department, Scott Benson, Ph.D. ISU Economics Department, and Donna Lybecker, Ph.D. ISU Political Science Department.

Thursday, Oct. 30:

•    “An Immigrant Student’s Life” discussion at noon in the Pond Student Union Salmon River Suite. This discussion will entail two students’ stories of how they came to the United States and dealt with life in this country.

•    “Beyond the Border: An Immigrant’s Life” presentation at 7 p.m. in the Pond Student Union Salmon River Suite will focus around the struggles immigrants go through after they cross the border. Two immigrants will share their perspectives on coming to Idaho and working with immigrant communities, one in Pocatello and the other with ICAN, an immigrant rights activist group in Boise. The third panelist will be an Idaho State University sociologist.

Monday, Nov. 3:

•    “Photographs of Migration” presentation by Don Bartletti at 6 p.m. in the Pond Student Union Little Wood River Room followed by a reception in the Pond Student Union Transition Gallery.

Wednesday and Thursday, Nov. 5-6:

•    Movie: “Under the Same Moon” at 7 p.m. in the Pond Student Union Bengal Theater.

Biographies:

Sonia Nazario, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and journalist

They call it “the train of death.” Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Sonia Nazario clung to the top of a freight train with a young Honduran boy named Enrique on his brave odyssey to reunite with his mother in the United States. Chronicling her experience in her astonishing book, “Enrique’s Journey,” based upon her newspaper series that won the Pulitzer Prize for feature writing, she offers a gripping personal perspective on one of the most challenging and divisive issues today: immigration.

A projects reporter for “The Los Angeles Times,” Nazario has spent more than two decades reporting and writing about social issues and garnering dozens of awards, including the George Polk Award for International Reporting, and the Grand Prize of the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Awards. Tackling some of the hot button issues such as hunger, drug addiction and immigration, she has always combined sensitivity with a sensible viewpoint on the subject matter.

Don Barletti, Pulitzer-prize-winning photojournalist

Don Bartletti has been a staff photographer with “The Los Angeles Times” since 1983 and was awarded 2003 Pulitzer Prize winner for Feature Photography for a six-part series that documented the perilous journey of Central American youths traveling north to the United States.

These photos are the most recent chapter in Bartletti’s long-term focus on the dynamics of immigration from Latin America to the U.S. Besides publication in the L.A. Times, images from this 20-year body of work have been exhibited in museums across the U.S. and in Mexico.

In a career that spans three decades, Bartletti has covered events ranging from the Academy Awards to the Olympics to the recent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

He has also received the Grand Prize in the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Awards, the Polk Award, the Scripps-Howard Foundation National Journalism Award, the Sidney Hillman Foundation Award, the Ruben Salazar Award, and awards from the NPPA, POYi, World Press Photo, National Association of Hispanic Journalists, and the InterAmerican Press Association. Don and his wife, Diana, live in Vista, Calif.