Creative writing teacher and author Daniel Acosta presents his debut novel, “Iron River,” in a virtual discussion hosted by the Pasadena Public Library on Thursday, April 7, from 5 to 6 p.m.
“Iron River” is set in the summer and fall of 1958, in Sangra, the Mexican-American barrio in the Los Angeles suburb of San Gabriel. The novel’s title represents the railroad tracks that play a pivotal role in the story. The 12-year-old protagonist and narrator, Manuel Maldonado, Jr., is known to his Mexican-American barrio as “Man-on-Fire” for his red hair and the port-wine stain that is his birthmark.
Throughout the novel, Man-on-Fire and his boyhood friends are haunted by “the Turk,” a dirty cop who harasses the people of the barrio, and by the prospect of going to prison for killing the hobo. Complications develop when Man’s uncle Rudy comes home on parole from prison to an unwelcome reception from Man’s father, Rudy’s older brother.
Daniel Gilbert Acosta was born and grew up in California. After a half year as a novice in the Claretian order, Acosta left the seminary and enrolled at California State University, Los Angeles. Following college, Acosta was drafted into the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War. He was discharged from the Army in 1972 and returned to CSULA to earn his teaching credential.
Acosta earned a Master’s Degree from CSULA and spent thirty-four years teaching English and creative writing at Mark Keppel High School in Alhambra. A former member of the L.A. Barrio Writer’s Workshop, Acosta retired from teaching in 2007 and returned to his writing. His fiction has appeared in national print and digital periodicals. “Iron River” is his first novel.
Acosta is a father of four, and he and his wife Linda live in Rosemead.
To sign up for the event on Thursday, visit https://pasadena.evanced.info/
For more information, call (626) 744-4066.
