Among the many fun, unique, and educational events the Stevenson English Department puts on, one of the most interesting public events is that of the Visiting Writer. This Visiting Writer is invited by Stevenson to come speak with students in the classroom, have meals with seniors in their capstone, and give a public reading of the work of their choosing. In the past, the department usually chooses writers that are just taking off, which gives an interesting opportunity for those students that interact with them, as there is a lot to learn from effective writers and publishers. This semester the writer that has been invited to speak with us is Carlos Hernandez.
Hernandez is quite the jack of all trades, though his writing is anything but average. Hernandez has written for science fiction and literary magazines, such as Uncanny. He is a poet specializing in mixing Spanish and English to create linguistically and structurally exciting pieces. He writes fiction and non-fiction such as Sal and Gabi Break the Universe and The Assimilated Cuban’s Guide to Quantum Santeria, graphic novels such as La Huella de Lorca, and videogame stories and dialogue. With his fingers in all the pies I find it very surprising that Hernandez hasn’t been on all of our radars for some time now.
While he is here, Hernandez is going to be a very busy man. On Tuesday February 26th, he will be having a luncheon with the senior capstone writers and leading Gerald Majer’s 400 level Creative Writing Capstone class and visiting and leading a creative exercise in Aaron Chandler’s 300 level Poetry workshop. He will be finishing his day with a public reading in Rockland Banquet Hall, on the second floor of Rockland, at 6PM followed by a reception and book signing. There will be food and time to ask questions about his latest work or any other work of his that you are interested in. On Wednesday February 27th, Hernandez will continue meeting with students and faculty starting with Amanda Licastro’s Intro to Digital Publishing and then a lunch with the freshmen.
No matter who you are or where your interests lie taking some time on Tuesday to come out a meet Carlos Hernandez will be well worth it. If you are not in one of the classes lucky enough to have him coming in I highly, highly, highly suggest coming out to the public reading on the second floor of Rockland in the Banquet Hall at 6PM on Tuesday. It is an event you will not want to miss.
You can follow him on social media at Insta: @writeteachplay and Twitter: @WriteTeachPlay
We look forward to seeing you there!