Grace Talusan was born in the Philippines and raised in New England. A graduate of Tufts University and the MFA Program in Writing at UC Irvine, she is the recipient of a U.S. Fulbright Fellowship to the Philippines and an Artist Fellowship Award from the Massachusetts Cultural Council. Talusan teaches the Essay Incubator at GrubStreet and at the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life at Tufts. She is the Fannie Hurst Writer-in-Residence at Brandeis University. The Body Papers, winner of the Restless Books Prize for New Immigrant Writing, is her first book.

Building on UCI’s demonstrated excellence in the creative arts and cultural programming, Illuminations aims to ensure that all of our students, regardless of major, have serious and meaningful exposure to the creative arts. In addition, we seek to strengthen the connections between UCI and our regional arts and culture centers and institutions.

Producer: Heritage Future and UCI Illuminations
Host: Trevor Allred
Guest: Grace Talusan
Music composed and performed by Dan Reckard