An Afternoon with Angie Cruz, winner of Gina Berriault Award

Celebrate the winner of the 2021 Gina Berriault Award: Angie Cruz. A novelist and editor, she is the author of “Dominicana,” praised by NBC News as “one of the most evocative and empowering immigrant stories of our time.” It was the inaugural book pick for the “Good Morning America” Book Club and was shortlisted for The Women’s Prize. Cruz is the author of two other novels, “Soledad” and “Let It Rain Coffee.” She has published shorter works in The Paris Review, VQR, Callaloo, Gulf Coast and other journals. Cruz is the founder and editor-in-chief of the award=winning literary journal, Aster(ix). Free.

Supported by the George and Judy Marcus Funds for Excellence in the Liberal Arts.

Gina Berriault Award

Peter Orner, in conjunction with Fourteen Hills Press, inaugurated the Gina Berriault Award in 2009 to pay homage to the eponymous writer, a former SF State Creative Writing professor who with every story embodied a certain selflessness and unflinching compassion. The award is given annually to a writer with a similar spirit who has shown a love for storytelling and a commitment to helping young writers. Past recipients include NoViolet Bulawayo, Cristina García, Yiyun Li, Adam Johnson and Tommy Orange.

Fourteen Hills Press

Fourteen Hills Press established its nonprofit literary journal, Fourteen Hills: The San Francisco State University Review, in 1994. Staffed and produced by graduate students in the Creative Writing Department, the journal’s alumni includes recipients of Pulitzer, Pushcart and O. Henry prizes, as well as state laureate recognition.