2009 Oct 07
For Immediate Release
PC Alumna Stella Pope Duarte to Receive American Book Award
(PHOENIX, AZ; October 7, 2009) - Phoenix College alumna and acclaimed author Stella Pope Duarte's latest novel, If I Die in Juarez, has been selected to receive an American Book Award for 2009. Duarte will accept the award on October 11th in New York City during a ceremony which will be televised on C-SPAN.
The book is based on a string of real-life murders in Ciudad Juárez in the 1990's and traces the lives of three young women who uncover Juárez's dark secret: the abduction and murder of young women.
"It is indeed an honor to have written the story of the women of Juarez," said Duarte.
The American Book Awards were established in 1978 by the Before Columbus Foundation to recognize outstanding literary achievement from the whole spectrum of America's literary community. Rather than being bestowed by an industry organization, the Awards are given by other writers.
Other accolades for If I Die in Juarez include the
In addition to her roles as author, community advocate, and motivational speaker, Duarte is an adjunct faculty member in the Phoenix College Creative Writing Program. The 1969 Phoenix College graduate is also a long-time volunteer and contributor to the Phoenix College Alumni Association. As an alumni standout and an avid supporter of the college and its mission, Duarte was the first member of the Alumni Association to appear in college marketing materials and billboards.
For her contributions in both her career field and her community, the American Association of Community Colleges recognized Duarte with the national Outstanding Alumni Award in 2005. In 2006, she was inducted into the Phoenix College Alumni Association (PCAA) Hall of Fame.
Duarte's work has garnered national acclaim resulting in numerous awards and honors, including a nomination for the Pushcart Prize in Literature, the Excellence in Latino Arts & Culture Award presented by Valle del Sol, Arizona Highways Magazine's Fiction Award for 2003, and the Barbara Deming Memorial Fund Award. She also has received two creative writing fellowships from the Arizona Commission on the Arts. The first was awarded in 1998 for Fragile Night, and the second was awarded in 2001 for Let Their Spirits Dance. She recently earned first place in the 34th Annual Chicano/Literary Prize from the University of California at Irvine for a short story collection, Women Who Live in Coffee Shops.
Duarte was born and raised in La Sonorita barrio in South Phoenix.