Author of this year’s One Book selection ‘The Devil’s Highway,’ to host reading and Q&A
GARY, Ind — Award-winning author Luis Alberto Urrea is coming to Indiana University Northwest Thursday, March 28 to discuss his book, The Devil’s Highway.
Urrea, a master storyteller who uses his dual-culture life experiences to explore themes of love, loss and triumph in his writing, will host a reading and Q&A followed by a reception on campus. The Devil’s Highway was IU Northwest’s One Book, One Campus, One Community reading selection for the 2023-2024 academic year.
The Devil’s Highway tells the story of 26 Mexican men who paid to be smuggled into the United States through the most dangerous part of the border — “The Devil’s Highway” — which includes 50 miles of dangerous and unforgiving terrain and brutal heat.
The book dives into the desire of the immigrants to take such a treacherous journey; Border Patrol agents who themselves are hesitant about traveling through that part of the border; and even takes readers inside the heads of the smugglers who accept money to perform the trip.
An author of 16 books, Urrea is a Pulitzer Prize finalist (nonfiction), won the Kiriyama Prize (2006), the Lannan Award (2002), an American Book Award (1999) and was named to the Latino Literary Hall of Fame.
