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It's a pleasure to introduce
Gary Soto to you this evening.

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I've known Gary
for about 15 years

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and read his poetry for
longer than that going back

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to the early '70s.

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I've had the privilege
of having him heard--

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having heard him read
on numerous occasions,

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three times now in Tucson.

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And I know that his
audience has always

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come away moved by his poetry.

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I'm sure that tonight
will be no exception.

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Gary was born and raised
in Fresno, California,

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and has lived for most of his
adult life in the Bay Area,

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Berkeley.

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He taught for many
years at UC Berkeley

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and has just been appointed to
a distinguished professorship

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at the University of
California at Riverside.

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He's the author of nine
poetry collections for adults

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as well as numerous works
of fiction, including

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fiction for young adults.

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His poems have appeared in many
poetry magazines and journals

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including Ploughshares, The
Iowa Review, Ontario Review,

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and most frequently in Poetry.

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Poetry, the magazine, honored
him with the Bess Hoskins Prize

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and Levinson Award and featured
him in Poets in Person.

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He has guest edited a special
issue of Ploughshares.

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He's received the
Discovery/The Nation Prize.

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The California Library
Association John and Patricia

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Beatty Award, twice.

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A recognition of merit
from the Claremont Graduate

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School for his fiction
work, Baseball In April.

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The silver medal from
the Commonwealth Club

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of California and the
Tomás Rivera prize

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in addition to fellowships
from the Guggenheim Foundation,

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the National Endowment
for the Arts,

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twice, and the
California Arts Council.

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For ITVS, he produced
the film, The Pool Party,

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which received the 1993
Andrew Carnegie Medal.

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This year he has been honored
with the Human and Civil Rights

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Award from the American
Education Association

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as well as a Hispanic Heritage
Award on September 13.

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This last award, a black tie
affair at Lincoln Center,

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will be broadcast nationally
on NBC on October 3.

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Consult your local listings.

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He shared the stage with,
among others, Plácido Domingo.

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His books for adults
and for young people

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have sold over a million copies.

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I'd like to read just
a few of the titles

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but by no means all of them
because we'd be here longer

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than reading his poetry.

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His earliest book, The
Elements Of San Joaquin,

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University of
Pittsburgh Press, 1977.

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And then the
following three, again

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from the University of
Pittsburgh Press, The Tale

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of Sunlight, 1978; Where
Sparrows Work Hard, 1981; Black

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Hair, 1985; Neighborhood
Odes, Harcourt, Brace,

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1992; New and Selected
Poems, Chronicle Books, 1995;

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and then most recently,
A Natural Man,

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published by Chronicle Books,
which was just published

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last week and is available
I think outside for signing

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and purchasing.

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Gary Soto's New and
Selected Poems, this book,

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which is also available
in the lobby--

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was a 1995 finalist for both
the Los Angeles Times Book Award

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and the National Book Award.

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His recollections, Living
Up The Street, a prose work,

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received a Before Columbus
Foundation American Book Award.

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His most recent collection
of poetry is, as I just said,

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A Natural Man.

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Like much of his poetry, many
of the poems in this 1999

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collection are bittersweet,
ranging from wry humor

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to regret and disappointment.

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Reading his poetry is to
experience a range of emotions

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from laughter, to sadness,
often in the same poem.

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To hear him read his
poetry is always a joy.

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Please welcome Gary Soto.

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[APPLAUSE]

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