Los Angeles writer, La Puente native, and Fresno State Creative Writing Professor, Alex Espinoza, will be joining the Cal State L.A. faculty for the 2015-2016 academic year as a Visiting Associate Professor and interim director of a new MFA in Bilingual Creative Writing and Creative Media program. In his own words he says:

“I look forward to returning to my wonderful city of Los Angeles, a place that I love fiercely and unconditionally, a place whose landscape and personality is so ingrained in my blood and bones…Not only am I thrilled to be having this opportunity to help strengthen an already vibrant literary scene…and to be in the San Gabriel Valley, so close to where I grew up? It’s my chance, finally, to give back to my community…”

In such a multicultural city as Los Angeles, with at least 50% of the population being Latino, it’s only appropriate that Cal State L.A., which founded the country’s first Chicano Studies program, creates a bilingual creative writing program. To mentor more writers of color and get their necessary stories, their voices, out into the world.