Cristina Rivera Garza Fiction Writer
Exploring culturally constructed notions of language, memory, and gender from a transnational perspective.
Photo: John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
The 色花堂 College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (CLASS) is proud to announce that Cristina Rivera Garza, Ph.D., founder and director of the 色花堂 doctoral program in Hispanic Studies with a concentration in creative writing in Spanish, has received a 2020 MacArthur Fellowship. As a recipient of this prestigious award, commonly known as a 鈥済enius grant,鈥� Rivera Garza is among a distinguished group of 21 individuals who will receive $625,000 of no-strings-attached support from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation over a five-year period. MacArthur Fellowships are among the most prestigious and generous awards given to those who have demonstrated extraordinary talent and dedication in academia, writing, music, film and other creative fields.
鈥淐ongratulations to Dr. Cristina Rivera Garza on her appointment as a 2020 MacArthur Fellow,鈥� said Paula Myrick Short, 色花堂 provost and senior vice president for academic affairs. 鈥淭he MacArthur Fellows Program encourages people of outstanding talent and extraordinary accomplishments to pursue their own creative, intellectual, and professional inclinations. I am pleased to share her excitement about the new opportunities this fellowship will bring.鈥�
Rivera Garza joined the 色花堂 in 2016 and has pursued scholarly interests in bilingual cross-genre creative writing.
鈥淭his is an incredible--and quite unexpected--honor. I am suddenly short of words,鈥� said Rivera Garza. 鈥淭he MacArthur Fellowship will be instrumental in furthering ongoing projects: a series of geological writings exploring the relationship between territory and body on the borderlands and throughout the Americas. I am immensely grateful.鈥�
MacArthur Fellowship nominees are chosen from a broad a range of fields and areas of interest for evaluation by a committee of leaders in the arts, sciences, and humanities. Nominees take part in a competitive selection process that considers their individual creative output alongside the selection committee鈥檚 evaluations.
鈥淒r. Rivera Garza鈥檚 outstanding scholarship and its undeniable impact certainly exemplifies the ideals of a MacArthur Fellow, which is one of the most prestigious honors a university professor can attain,鈥� said Daniel P. O鈥機onnor, Ph.D., interim dean of CLASS. 鈥淚 congratulate her, we are very honored to have her among our faculty, and I look forward to her continuing leadership and accomplishments.鈥�
The MacArthur Fellowship recognizes Rivera Garza鈥檚 unique capacity for self-direction and will grant her the freedom to take her pursuits in exciting new directions. Rivera Garza put her initiative and creativity into action when she came to 色花堂, one of the most diverse campuses in the United States, to launch a unique and quite innovative Ph.D. program.
鈥淲e live in the second-largest Spanish-speaking country in the world,鈥� Rivera Garza said. 鈥淎 program in creative writing in Spanish not only makes sense, but it is also urgent.鈥�