By
An Evening with Susan Straight and Sacrament
Wednesday, November 19, 6:30-8:00 PM; doors open at 6:00
Barbara and Art Culver Center of the Arts
3834 Main Street, in downtown Riverside
FREE. All are welcome.
Join us at the Culver Center on Wednesday, November 19, to celebrate the launch of Sacrament by Susan Straight, acclaimed local author and Distinguished Professor of Creative Writing at UC, Riverside. Susan will be joined by author Alex Espinoza and County of Riverside Supervisor Jose Medina for a conversation about California’s landscapes and people—with DJ and local legend Jorge “Mr. Blue” Hernandez on hand to play songs from the book. Doors open at 6:00 PM; the program begins at 6:30.
Free book raffle for students!
About Sacrament:
From National Book Award finalist Susan Straight, a captivating new novel about a group of nurses fighting through the first year of a pandemic and the beloved California community they will risk their lives to protect.
In August 2020, a group of nurses are working in the ICU at a hospital in San Bernardino at the height of a Covid surge: Larette Embers, whose husband, Grief, is an animal control officer; Cherrise Martinez, whose husband died years ago in a car crash, and whose daughter Raquel has been sent to a Coachella date farm to live with her great-aunt to avoid the virus; and Marisol Manalang, born in the Philippines but based in Sacramento. To safeguard their families, the nurses are living in a makeshift RV camp close to the hospital; they share food and cigarettes yet keep their work private. For this is a country in crisis, and they are assisting strangers at the edge of death with infinite tenderness and growing desperation.
As the nurses struggle with the skyrocketing number of sick patients, Cherisse’s daughter goes missing. Grief’s friend Johnny Frias, a California Highway Patrol officer, joins the search to find her, and the resulting journey leads to new love and loss, pushing all our characters to their breaking points. Brilliantly highlighting both the quiet heroism and extraordinary bravery of first responders, Sacrament once again proves that Susan Straight is the “essential voice in American writing and in writing of the West” (The New York Times).
Susan Straight has published nine novels, including Mecca, A Million Nightingales, and Highwire Moon, and one memoir, In the Country of Women. She received the Lannan Prize, the O. Henry Award, the Edgar Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and the Robert Kirsch Award for lifetime achievement from the Los Angeles Times Book Prizes. Her fiction has been translated into ten languages. She was born in Riverside, California, where she lives with her family.
Alex Espinoza (he/him/his/they) is a queer writer with a disability. He was born in Tijuana, Mexico––on Kumeyaay original lands––to Purepécha parents from the state of Michoacán and raised in Southern California, on Gabrieliño-Tongva land. He is the author of Still Water Saints, The Five Acts of Diego León, Cruising: An Intimate History of a Radical Pastime. His newest novel, The Sons of El Rey, was published by Simon and Schuster in 2024.
Supervisor Jose Medina was elected to the Riverside County Board of Supervisors in November 2024 and proudly represents the 1st Supervisorial District, which includes the cities of Riverside, Perris, and portions of Jurupa Valley, as well as the unincorporated communities of Good Hope, Highgrove, and Mead Valley. A lifelong resident of Riverside County, Supervisor Medina is a proud UC Riverside alumnus, holding a bachelor’s degree in Latin American Studies and a master’s degree in history. He has two adult children and two grandchildren and currently resides in Riverside with his wife, Linda.
With music from DJ Jorge “Mr. Blue” Hernandez!
A former teacher of Chicano studies, and a father of four educated sons, Jorge Hernandez is a Superior Court Judge for the County of Riverside, California. After earning a bachelor’s degree from University of California, Riverside, he went on to earn a Juris Doctor (J.D.) from University of California, Hastings College of the Law, and after working as a public defender, he became a sole practitioner before being appointed by former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2008 as a Superior Court Judge.
A dedicated supporter of Riverside Art Museum and now the Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture, Judge Hernandez is the founder of the Pachuco Ball, held every August to support programs and services of the museum. The host of Radio Aztlan on KUCR 88.3 FM, Jorge is also a lowrider enthusiast, collects Chicano art, AND has a vast collection of early Chicano music.
