An Evening with Julia Alvarez

The Frances A. McAnaney Humanities Lecture presents 
An Evening with Julia Alvarez

Join us for an evening of conversation with Julia Alvarez, best-selling author of 
How the García Girls Lost Their Accents and In the Time of the Butterflies.

Julia Alvarez left the Dominican Republic for the United States in 1960 at the age of 10. She is the author of six novels, three books of nonfiction, three collections of poetry, and 11 books for children and young adults. She has taught and mentored writers in schools and communities across America and, until her retirement in 2016, was a writer in residence at Middlebury College. Her work was included in the New York Public Library’s program “The Hand of the Poet: Original Manuscripts by 100 Masters, from John Donne to Julia Alvarez.”

Alvarez’s novel In the Time of the Butterflies, with over one million copies in print, was selected by the National Endowment for the Arts for its national Big Read program, and in 2013 President Obama awarded Alvarez the National Medal of Arts in recognition of her extraordinary storytelling. In 2024, she was the subject of an American Masters documentary, “Julia Alvarez: A Life Reimagined,” on PBS.  Alvarez is one of the founders of Border of Lights, a movement to promote peace and collaboration between Haiti and the Dominican Republic. She lives in Vermont.

This is a ticketed event.

Saint Mary's College students with ID can attend at no charge. Special discounts are also available for area educators and their students; contact hust@saintmarys.edu for more information. Tickets for this event will be available beginning August 4, 2025. 
 

About the Francis A. McAnaney Humanities Lecture

Julia Alvarez joins us as part of the Francis A. McAnaney Humanities Lecture, previously known as the Christian Culture Lecture. This lecture series has welcomed remarkable writers, historians, philosophers, and theologians to campus for more than 15 years. The Francis A. McAnaney Humanities Lecture has been endowed by a gift from the Peter B. and Adeline W. Ruffin Foundation. This continues a lecture series revived by Donald and Susan Rice ’61 in 2006 in memory of Bruno P. Schlesinger.