Junot Díaz: Giant Monsters, Linguistics, And Five Years Of Freedom

Last Night: Díaz At Book Fair
In this Sept. 20, 2012 photo provided by the Chicago-based John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Junot Diaz, 43, a fiction writer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is seen in Cambridge, Mass. Diaz, a recipient of one of this year's MacArthur Foundation "genius grants," was named a finalist, Wednesday, Oct. 10, for a National Book Award for his book, This is How You Lose Her," a series of stories about love. (AP Photo/Courtesy of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Tsar Fedorsky)
In this Sept. 20, 2012 photo provided by the Chicago-based John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Junot Diaz, 43, a fiction writer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is seen in Cambridge, Mass. Diaz, a recipient of one of this year's MacArthur Foundation "genius grants," was named a finalist, Wednesday, Oct. 10, for a National Book Award for his book, This is How You Lose Her," a series of stories about love. (AP Photo/Courtesy of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Tsar Fedorsky)

The latest book by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Junot Díaz, This Is How You Lose Her, is a collection of stories linked by recurring characters. Last month, it was nominated for a National Book Award. Less than two weeks later, Diaz won a coveted MacArthur "genius" grant (half-a-million dollars over five years). He also teaches writing at MIT. Several years ago, after the release of his celebrated novel, The Brief Wondrous of Oscar Wao, he was the toast of the Miami Book Fair Interational.

Popular in the Community

Close

What's Hot