Jennifer De Leon Reads at SSU
December 1, 2014

By: Jessica Tower
Jennifer De Leon, a fiction writer, a memoirist, and a teacher in Boston, came to Salem State on November 6th to discuss her new book, Wise Latinas: Writers on Higher Education, which she edited. Her new book was published in March 2014 by the University of Nebraska Press. Jennifer stated during the reading that the book was a decade in the making, and that she was excited for it to have finally come out.
The book centers around Latina women telling their personal stories regarding higher education. Jennifer De Leon is Latina herself and spoke a lot about her experiences during both the reading and the forum. Professor J.D. Scrimgeour said that “Jennifer DeLeon is a natural storyteller, and her stories were full of humor and wisdom.”
Jennifer started her visit at Salem State with a forum titled, “Latinas in Higher Education: What We All Need to Know.” During this event, she discussed her book and her personal experience with higher education, talking about events such as her first day at an upper-class liberal arts college, where she felt out of place due to being Latina, her income, and the fact that everyone else seemed to know what they were doing. She remarked that she felt as if college had always been the endpoint for her; she only really ever thought of making it to college, not of actually making it out.
De Leon then joined faculty and students for dinner at the North Campus Dining Hall. There were approximately twenty people at the dinner. Later, Jennifer participated in her reading, which took place at 7:30 on North Campus in the Ellison Center’s Metro Room, which was also where the forum had taken place. During her reading, she talked about her book and read an essay that she had published about a family member’s struggles. At the end, she opened it up for questions, where many people asked about her personal experiences as a Latina woman. She discussed how she was chosen for an exclusive unpaid internship while in college, but turned it down because she did not have the funds available to pay for housing. However, her school contacted her to let her know about funding available. She did not know about the opportunity for funding and wanted others to know that universities often have funding available for situations like hers.
Jennifer De Leon’s visit to campus was a great experience for students. When speaking with Professor J.D. Scrimgeour, he said “My students flat-out loved her, and her visit inspired them to produce some great writing. Many of them identified with her struggles to negotiate between different cultures.”
Jennifer also has somewhat of a connection to Salem State. Professor Scrimgeour stated that “Jennifer attended graduate school at UMass Boston with SSU graduate and former Soundings East Editor, Jeremy Lakaszcyck.”
At the time of publication, the Writers’ Series events at Salem State have ended for the fall 2014 semester. However, if you are looking for more writing-related events to attend this semester, there are two upcoming ones: the Poetry Film Festival on December 4th from 7:30 to 9:00pm in the MLK room at the Ellison Campus Center, and the final English Society meeting of the semester on December 8th at 11:00am in Meier Hall 249E. Refreshments will be served at both events.
Contributor's Note: One of Jessica Tower's dream is to become a published poet.