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Cover of The Hummingbird's Daughter
Now Available
from Little, Brown & Co.
Two decades in the writing, the magisterial new novel The Hummingbird’s Daughter  unfolds in revolutionary Mexico where, on a sprawling ranch owned by the wealthy Don Tomás Urrea, his illegitimate mestizo daughter, Teresita, becomes a powerful healer.

To order a signed first edition copy, call 1-800-497-4717 or visit www.bellalunabooks.com


 Now available
from Little, Brown & Co.
The true story of a dangerous place, those willing to risk everything to cross, and those determined to rescue the living and the dead at all costs.

"A horrendous story, told with bitter skill" -- Kirkus Book Review (starred review)

To order a signed first edition copy, call 1-800-497-4717 or visit www.bellalunabooks.com

What They're Saying:

"A classic, a tribune and love song to the colorful and vibrant heart of all things Mexican"

" A word-drunk, visionary reverie that constantly amazes and delights"
"An astonishing novel ... brilliant prose ... wildly romantic"
"Resonates with passion and beauty"

What's New

What's New September 13, 2007

OK, so it's only a little embarrassing when the last post on your "News" blog is dated almost a year ago ...But keeping up with Luis is easy with his blog. It's just the business side of things has been ... well, business-y and the real-life stuff has been all-consuming.In the interest of being timely and relevant, however, we offer a few new tidbits:

  • This month marks the 20th anniversary of Conde Naste Traveler, an excellent magazine. Even more excellently, it is featuring a piece on the top travel books ever as offered by an elite group of authors. We could point you to the exact page and paragraph where Luis makes his suggestions, but then you'd miss a really fun article AND the delight of stumbling over a cartoon of our man hanging with a few of his pals. Check it out.
  • Last spring, Marc Jaffe published The Best Stories of the American West. Yep, Luis is one of the featured authors with "Bid Farewell to Her Many Horses."
  • In just a couple of weeks, Luis steps out on a crazed tour of cities and colleges that are all talking about immigration and reading The Devil's Highway. He may not be coming to your town, but I bet he's close. Check out his updated schedule with the link at the top of this page. Come see and hear him and definitely say hello!
  • For those wanting to work with Luis during the summer workshop season, right now it looks like he'll be at the prestigious Bread Loaf Writing Institute and the Hassayampa Conference this summer. We'll have more information here when it's available.
  • And faithful readers of his blog know that Luis is deep into his new novel. For updates and meanderings and musings, keep checking in with the blog link above.


Thanks for being here!

September 19, 2006

Now you can hear Hummingbird!
The complete audio version of The Hummingbird's Daughter is now available as a digital download on audible.com. Luis spent a glorious two straight weeks in recording studios in Los Angeles and Chicago reading his epic to you (well, into a microphone, but you get the idea). And now, you can listen on your Ipod, download it to your computer, burn it on a CD. Let Luis tell you a bedtime story or make your commute to work or home feel like you're driving through the outskirts of Teresita's world.
It's an amazing piece of work (we've listed to it here) and, as an added bonus, it features "Teresita's Suite," an original series of acoustic guitar pieces written and performed by Luis's good friend, Mr. Shawn Phillips.
The download will soon be available on Itunes as well.
We think you'll love it.

Much love to the Bay Area!
Thank you so much San Francisco for choosing The Hummingbird's Daughter as your one-city, one-book pick. Luis will be coming into town several times over the next couple of months, so make sure to check the schedule and come by to say hello.
We are humbled and honored!

August 30, 2006

Mayor Newsom Announces 2006 One City One Book: San Francisco Reads Selection
Tale about a young girl with mystical healing powers chosen for citywide reading program
San Francisco, CA - Mayor Gavin Newsom and the San Francisco Public Library invite San Franciscans to participate in this year's One City One Book: San Francisco Reads program by announcing the selection of The Hummingbird's Daughter, by Luis Alberto Urrea. Following a highly successful launch of the citywide reading initiative in 2005, co-chaired by Diane Frankel and Marilyn Waldman, this year's program will again feature book discussions and special events and programs associated with the work.

One City One Book: San Francisco Reads events and discussions will take place in libraries, bookstores, and schools during September and October. Program guides, bookmarks, and other materials will be available. For complete program information, visit the San Francisco Public Library website at www.sfpl.org.

April 03, 2006

The Hummingbird's Daughter is officially released today in paperback. It's a beautiful production with the added charms of a readers' guide, an interview with Luis, an essay Luis wrote for the Los Angeles Times on what it was like to research and write this book and a list of books Luis recommends to readers.
Speaking of interviews, there is also a wonderfully lengthy and detailed chat with Luis posted at The Elegant Variation. The interview was conducted by king of the Latino bloggers, Dan Olivas.

March 29, 2006

Hummingbird wins the Kiriyama!
Pacific Rim Voices has named The Hummingbird's Daughter the winner of the 10th annual Kiriyama Prize for fiction. It's the first time a Latino work has been honored with the prize, designed to showcase the best literature about the peoples and culture of the Pacific Rim region.
Luis is also the first author to be nominated for the prize in both fiction and nonfiction: The Devil's Highway was a finalist last year.
Of Hummingbird, Gail Tsukiyama, novelist and chair of the fiction judges’ panel, said: “Urrea masterfully brings together a story of a clash of cultures, politics and corruption, religion and spirituality, love and heartbreak to a dazzling effect."
We are humbled and grateful to be recognized.
You can read more of the judges' comments and see the official press release here. More information, a review of Hummingbird and an interview with Gail Tsukiyama can be found here.

February 28, 2006

It's an honor to be first!
Today the finalists for the 10th annual Kiriyama Prize were announced by Pacific Rim Voices. The Hummingbird's Daughter is a finalist in fiction, making Luis the first author ever to be nominated for the prestigious prize in both fiction and nonfiction (The Devil's Highway was a nonfiction finalist last year). Hoorah!
You can find out more here.

 

(c) Luis Alberto Urrea, 2006.
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