University of Oklahoma author Robert Con Davis-Undiano wins international book award
FROM STAFF REPORTS Published: September 17, 2017 5:00 AM CDT Updated: September 17, 2017 5:00 AM CDT
Robert Con Davis-Undiano's book "Mestizos Come Home!" has won the 2017 International Latino Book Award for “Best Latino Focused Nonfiction Book.”
The prize was announced at a ceremony on Sept. 9 at California State University Dominguez Hills.
Davis-Undiano is the director of the newly inaugurated Latinx Studies program at the University of Oklahoma and series editor for the Chicana & Chicano Vision of the Americas at the University of Oklahoma Press. He said that he is grateful that this award will amplify the book's core message about democracy and inclusion that he feels is vital for all Americans.
“My goal for 'Mestizos Come Home!' is to do some good for Latinos and also to help make the country a better version of itself,” Davis-Undiano said in a news release.
“I want the country to value the Latino community and help it succeed. If the country fails at this, then the U.S. founding vision of a multicultural democracy falters, and the country eventually loses its willingness to value diversity and fails to continually renew itself as a unique experiment in democracy and community.”
He added that “the country needs to understand that at stake in the success of Mexican Americans and the Latino community is America's own future well-being, a case that my book is dedicated to making.”
Esteemed historian Neil Foley has described "Mestizos Come Home!" as “a must-read for all who wish to understand the future of the United States.”
Executive director for the World Literature Today organization and Neustadt Professor at the University of Oklahoma, Davis-Undiano is also the director of OU's Latinx Studies Program.
The International Latino Book Awards (ILBA) is the largest Latino literary and cultural award in the United States. Past winners include Mario Vargas Llosa, Pablo Neruda and the current U.S. Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera.
The ILBAs are sponsored by Latino Literacy Now, a nonprofit organization founded in 1997 by Edward James Olmos and Kirk Whisler. In addition to the ILBA, Latino Literacy Now hosts book festivals and educational programs, founded the International Society of Latino Authors, and has developed content to encourage Latino literacy and awareness of Latino authors in schools and libraries across the country.
More information about Davis-Undiano's book can be found at worldliteraturetoday.org/order-mestizos-come-home.
