EUGENE, Ore. - (March 30, 2010) - Junot Diaz, winner of the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for fiction, will read from his work in progress during an April appearance at the University of Oregon.

Diaz won the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Award, the John Sargent, Sr., First Novel Prize and other awards for his novel, "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao," which was published in 2007. He had previously published a book of short stories titled, "Drown."

He will read from his work at 8:30 p.m. Thursday, April 29, in the Browsing Room of the Knight Library on the UO campus. The event is free and open to the public.

"The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao," Diaz's prize-winning first novel, is the story of an overweight Dominican boy growing up in New Jersey who is obsessed with science fiction - and with the curse of the "fuku," which has followed the boy's family for generations.

At his UO appearance, Diaz is expected to read from his book-in-progress, "Dark America." The new book is a science fiction novel about the survivors in an alternate United States, in which a psychic terrorist has destroyed New York City.

Diaz was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and lived his early years with his mother and grandparents as his father worked in the U.S. He immigrated to New Jersey in 1974 just before his sixth birthday. He received a bachelor's degree in English from Rutgers College and a master's degree in fine arts from Cornell University. He now teaches creative writing at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is the fiction editor for the Boston Review.

The Eugene reading by Diaz follows a visit last spring by Ha Jin, winner of the National Book Award and author of "Waiting," "War Trash," and "A Free Life." Both are part of the ongoing Collins Distinguished Speakers Series hosted by the UO English Department. Sponsors of the Diaz reading include the UO Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies, the Clark Honors College, the UO creative writing program, the Department of Ethnic Studies, the College of Arts and Sciences, the Department of Romance Languages and the UO comparative literature program.

About the University of Oregon
The University of Oregon is a world-class teaching and research institution and Oregon's flagship public university. The UO is a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU), an organization made up of the 62 leading public and private research institutions in the United States and Canada. The University of Oregon is one of only two AAU members in the Pacific Northwest.

Contact: David Li, professor of English & Collins Professor of the Humanities, 541-346-3940, davidlli@uoregon.edu

Media Contact: Joe Mosley, media relations associate, 541-346-3606, jmosley@uoregon.edu