Gregory Orfalea is an American writer, the author or editor of nine books, including his most recent works, the biography ''Journey to the Sun: Junipero Serra's Dream and the Founding of California'' (Scribner, 2014) and a short story collection, ''The Man Who Guarded the Bomb'' (Syracuse UP, 2010).

Background

Orfalea was born and raised in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, California. His grandparents immigrated to the United States from

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

and

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

between 1890 and 1920; his ancestral towns include Homs and Arbin, Syria; and Mheiti, Lebanon. He is the cousin of Paul Orfalea, founder of Kinko’s.

Career

Orfalea has taught graduate and undergraduate school at the

Claremont Colleges The Claremont Colleges (known colloquially as the 7Cs) are a consortium of seven private university, private institutions of higher education located in Claremont, California, United States. They comprise five undergraduate colleges (the 5Cs)� ...

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

, and Westmont College. He teaches creative nonfiction, the short story, the literature of California, and Middle Eastern émigré literature.

Critical review

Kirkus Review said of ''Journey to the Sun'': "A California story has become an American story." The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' said, "Orfalea writes from his own spiritual heart and soars into the realm of poetry... His drama never lags." Dr. Allan Figueroa Deck, Cassasa Chair and Professor of Theological Studies at Loyola Marymount University noted, "Serra comes alive in this volume as in no other." About the memoir of Orfalea's youth in Los Angeles, Richard Rodriguez said, "These essays, recollecting Gregory Orfalea's American life, are delightful and wise." ''Angeleno Days'' won the Arab American Book Award and was a finalist for the PEN Center USA Prize.

Works

Non-fiction

* ''Journey to the Sun: Junipero Serra's Dream and the Founding of California'' (2014) * ''The Man Who Guarded the Bomb'' (2010) * ''Messengers of the Lost Battalion: The Heroic 551st and the Turning of Tide at the Battle of the Bulge'' (2010) * ''Angeleno Days: An Arab American Writer on Family, Place, and Politics'' (2009) * ''The Arab Americans: A History'' (2005) * ''Up All Night: Practical Wisdom for Mothers and Fathers'' (2004), co-edited with Barbara Rosewicz * ''Grape Leaves: A Century of Arab-American Poetry'' (1999), co-edited with Sharif Elmusa

References

3. www.latimes.com/.../la-oe-orfalea-serra-sainthood-20... {{DEFAULTSORT:Orfalea, Gregory 1949 births American people of Syrian descent American male poets American writers of Lebanese descent Living people Georgetown University faculty Westmont College faculty American non-fiction writers American male short story writers American poets American writers of Syrian descent American male non-fiction writers Poets from California