H-Town’s Newest Literary ‘Genius’

Novelist and UH prof Christina Rivera Garza receives a 2020 MacArthur Grant.

the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
H-Town’s Newest Literary ‘Genius’

Houston has a newly minted genius! Novelist Christina Rivera Garza, a fiction writer who teaches at UH, has been awarded a 2020 MacArthur Grant. The prize, among the most prestigious in arts and letters, honors those "who show exceptional creativity in their work and the prospect for still more in the future” and awards Garza $625,000 (paid out over five years).


“Writing came as a result of having to explain to myself the enigma the world was to me,” she said in a video accompanying the announcement. Garza, who is from Mexico, has written most of her work while living in the U.S., and says she “likes to explore the tension and friction between English and Spanish in order to find the exact words to convey and share an experience that was deeply felt at a specific point in time.”

Garza, who runs UH’s creative writing program in Spanish, writes difficult, elliptical novels and poetry — works that are part surrealism, part speculation, all grounded in the weirdness of reality. You can sample several of her more than 15 books in English translations, including novels likeThe Taiga Syndrome, a fairy-tale-cum-detective-story run amok; Grieving is a hybrid collection of short crónicas, journalism, and personal essays on systemic violence in contemporary Mexico and along the U.S.-Mexico border, just published this month. (Inquire at Brazos Bookstore, where she is a favorite among the staff!)

Art+Culture
The Latest in Anti-Aging Tech Now Available in River Oaks

Dr. Edward Lee and Nuveau

DR. EDWARD LEE believes in bringing the most advance treatment options to his patients at Nuveau. At the River Oaks practice, he performs the latest nonsurgical rejuvenation procedures, such as BOTOX and fillers, various laser treatments, and other nonsurgical treatmetns such as CoolSculpting and EmSculpt. He also does facelifts, upper and lower blepharoplasty, brow lift, and rhinoplasty for facial rejuvenation. Plus, he can achieve natural results with breast augmentation and breast lift surgery, as well as body contouring, such as liposuction, abdominoplasty, Brazilian butt lift and mommy makeovers.

Keep ReadingShow less

Nancy Gonzalez, Denise Reyes, Christina Jack, Destiny Fernandisse (photo by Emily Jaschke)

WHEN THE GRANDE dame of Houston philanthropy steps up to chair the annual gala for one of Houston’s most elite cultural institutions, expect high elegance to abound and big bucks to roll in.

Keep ReadingShow less

Nadia Hafeez, Shireen Hadi, Sara Perry (photo by Daniel Ortiz)

A ROSTER OF women you might usually see in scrubs and white coats flipped the script and went high-fashion for the Arts of Healing Foundation’s fourth annual Fashion Show at the Post Oak Hotel, celebrating Houston’s Women in Medicine.

Keep ReadingShow less