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 ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, California. His grandparents immigrated to the United States from Syria and

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

between 1890 and 1920; his ancestral towns include Homs and Arbin, Syria; and Mheiti, Lebanon. He is the cousin of

Paul Orfalea Paul Orfalea ( ar, بول أورفلي) (born November 28, 1947) is an American businessman who founded the copy-chain Kinko's. Orfalea was born in Los Angeles, California to Lebanese parents. He is currently a philanthropist and a visiting pr ...

, 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 institutions of higher education located in Claremont, California, United States. They comprise five undergraduate colleges (the 5Cs)— Pomona College, Sc ...

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

, and

Westmont College Westmont College is a private Christian liberal arts college in Montecito, California. It was founded in 1937. History Ruth Kerr, owner and CEO of the Kerr Glass Manufacturing Company, established the school as the Bible Missionary Institute in ...

. 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 The Arab American Book Award, established in 2006, is an annual literary award to celebrate and support the research of, and the written work of, Arab Americans and their culture. The Arab American Book Award encourages the publication and excelle ...

and was a finalist for the

PEN Center USA PEN Center USA was a branch of PEN, an international literary and human rights organization. It was one of two PEN International Centers in the United States, the other being the PEN America in New York City. On March 1, 2018, PEN Center USA unifi ...

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