TAMIU Reading the Globe Program to Host Lecture by Common Read Author Carmen Aguirre Oct. 4
Texas A&M International University's (TAMIU) Reading the Globe Program (RTG) will host its annual lecture on Friday, Oct. 4, at noon in the Center for the Fine and Performing Arts Recital Hall.
The lecture will be given by this year's Fall 2024 Campus Common Read author, Carmen Aguirre, whose novel, Something Fierce: Memoirs of a Revolutionary Daughter, was the selected Fall Campus Common Read for TAMIU first-year students.
The novel also serves as the Common Read for the City of Laredo's "One City, One Book" program, which will host another lecture by Aguirre Saturday, Oct. 5 at the Joe A. Guerra Laredo Public Library. The event is free and open to the public. A meet and greet with the author is scheduled at 9:30 a.m., followed by the author’s presentation at 10:30 a.m.
The memoir focuses on Aguirre and her family, who fled Chile after a violent coup led by General Augusto Pinochet, resulting in thousands being arrested, tortured, and killed under the repressive new regime.
Five years later, her family returns to South America as Chilean resistance members. At 18, Aguirre joins the resistance – her experience encapsulates a dramatic, suspenseful, and darkly comical account of revolutionary life.
Aguirre is a Chilean-Canadian award-winning theatre artist and author based in Vancouver, Canada. She is an Electric Company Theatre Core Artist and has written and co-written over 25 plays.
Her new play “Fire Never Dies: The Tina Modotti Project” will premiere at the 2024 Chutzpah! Festival in Vancouver. She has three other plays in development across Canada. Aguirre has over 80 films, television, and stage-acting credits. She can currently be seen in Family Law as Victor Garber's ex-wife and rival lawyer and in the upcoming Season Six of Virgin River.
She received the 2011 UBCP Lorena Gale Woman of Distinction Award and the 2014 Betty Mitchell Award for her outstanding theatre performance. She was named one of the 10 Most Influential Hispanic Canadians by the Canadian Hispanic Business Alliance.
Reading the Globe is a TAMIU-wide initiative engaging members of the University and the surrounding community. It nurtures a common purpose and sense of belonging, supporting the mission of University College, which hosts the RTG program. Since 2008, the program has enabled all First-Year students to engage in a selected book with an international focus through their Fall University Seminar.
The lecture serves as the capstone event for Fall 2024 for the University's RTG program. TAMIU students can apply for selection as an RTG Ambassador by taking part in an essay competition for an opportunity to take part in a study abroad trip to Chile. To learn more about the essay competition, visit https://go.tamiu.edu/rtg-essay
For additional information on TAMIU’s RTG program, contact University College at 956.326.2134, email readingtheglobe@tamiu.edu or visit https://www.tamiu.edu/readingtheglobe/index.shtml.
