HR0995 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0995 LRB096 21519 GRL 38300 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives are pleased to honor accomplishments in the lives of citizens of the State of Illinois; and

WHEREAS, Achy Obejas, a distinguished and critically-acclaimed author, journalist, and translator, has won the Civic Engagement, Community Service and Community Organizing Award from the University of Illinois at Chicago's Gender and Women's Studies Program; and

WHEREAS, Achy Obejas, a staff writer for the Chicago Tribune, won a Pulitzer Prize for a Tribune team investigation; and

WHEREAS, Throughout her career as a journalist, Achy Obejas has received many awards, including the Studs Terkel Journalism Prize and several Peter Lisagor journalism honors; and

WHEREAS, As the author of Ruins, Days of Awe, Aguas & Otros Cuentos, and several other books, Achy Obejas has been awarded 2 Lambda Literary awards, a national Endowment for the Arts fellowship in poetry, and residencies at Yaddo, Ragdale, and the Virginia Center for the Arts; and

WHEREAS, Achy Obejas has translated Havana Noir into English and Junot Diaz's Pulitzer Prize-winning The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao into Spanish; and

WHEREAS, Achy Obejas has traveled extensively in various capacities, lecturing and reading her work in the United States, Cuba, Mexico, Spain, Argentina, and Australia and serving as the Springer Writer-in-Residence at the University of Chicago and the Distinguished Writer-in-Residence at the University of Hawaii; she currently serves as the Sor Juana Writer-in-Residence at DePaul University in Chicago; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate Achy Obejas for winning the Civic Engagement, Community Service and Community Organizing Award from the University of Illinois at Chicago's Gender and Women's Studies Program and wish her continued success in the future; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be presented to Achy Obejas and the University of Illinois at Chicago's Gender and Women's Studies Program as a symbol of our affection, gratitude, and respect.