Luis Valdez

Join us in the newly refurbished Hammer Theatre for a gala evening celebrating the CLA’s 30 years of bringing top authors to San José. Our featured speaker will be none other than acclaimed author, playwright, actor, and director, Luis Valdez. A San José State alumnus, Valdez founded the theatre El Teatro Campesino in 1965 on the Delano Grape Strike picket lines of Cesar Chavez’s United Farmworkers Union to dramatize the plight and cause of farmworkers. El Teatro Campesino was honored with an Obie Award for “demonstrating the politics of survival.” In 1979, Valdez’s play Zoot Suit became the first Chicano work to debut on Broadway. His self-directed movie, La Bamba, was nominated for the 1988 Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture in the Drama category. Valdez has won the Hispanic Heritage award in Literature, as well as the Presidential Medal of the Arts. He has also won three Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards and an Emmy Award.  Meet Luis at a private VIP reception and CLA fundraiser following the show.