WOU professor & humanitarian Eduardo González-Viaña’s novel “El Corrido de Dante” receives award
The novel follows a Mexican farmer from Michoacán living in Mt. Angel, Oregon crossing half of the country in search of his daughter.
Excerpt from June 11 , 2007 Press release - News archive | view press release
Western Oregon University modern languages professor Eduardo González-Viaña’s recently released novel “El Corrido de Dante” has won the International Latino Book Award for best adventure or drama novel.
The novel’s main character is a Mexican farmer from Michoacán who supposedly lives without documents in Mt. Angel. In search of his daughter, he crosses half of the country driving an old fashioned van and his companion is a donkey called Virgilio. Amazing adventures occur to him throughout the county as he tells his life story to Virgilio.
“I feel that a writer has a social mission. My mission is to be the voice of the people who have no voice; for the thousands of people who are in need who come here for their pursuit of happiness,” said González-Viaña. “I feel I am pursuing my mission when I publish these books.”
“El Corrido de Dante,” published by Arte Publico Press, will be released this October in an English version called “Dante’s Ballad.”
Second place in the award category was shared by Latino authors Gioconda Belli and Isabel Allende, whose book “Ines of my Soul” has been translated to 20 languages. The award is sponsored by Latino Literacy Now, a non-profit organization that supports and promotes literacy and literacy excellence within the Latino community in the United States. The International Latino Book Awards recognize the most important Latino publishers and authors, as well as the excellence of their contributions to the American culture. The judging panel is comprised of booksellers, book industry professionals, prominent educators and other literary intellectuals. Books are nominated and judged under different top-level categories.
González-Viaña, a native of Perú, joined WOU in 1993 after only being in the country a short time working at the University of California, Berkely. He admired the smaller size of the WOU and the community, feeling he would be able to be a successful writer and professor with plenty of inspiration.
Within a year of moving to Monmouth, he came up with the idea for the Building a Bridge outreach program. He matches WOU students who can speak Spanish with local Latino families who speak little to no English. These students tutor families in literacy, basic English, driving laws, American history and other skills. To date, this program has helped almost 900 area families he has found through outlets such as churches and Spanish radio stations.
In addition to the Building a Bridge program, González-Viaña spends much of his time writing, mostly short stories and novels. He was 15 when his first was published. Since then he has published more than 20 books and nearly 400 articles. His most recent publication was an English-translated version of his New York Times bestseller “Los Suenos de America.” This collection of short stories comprises fictionalized testimonials from participants in his Building a Bridge program and people he has met while traveling America.
He also writes a weekly column titled “Correo de Salem,” which is published in approximately 30 newspapers in the Americas. For his writings, he has been awarded Perú’s National Prize for Literature, the International Juan Rulfo Award, and the prestigious Latino Literature Prize by the Latin American Writers Institute of New York.