Register for an Author Talk with Jason De León, the 2024 National Book Award winner and bestselling author. Following his highly regarded appearance at this year’s Santa Fe International Literary Festival, De León returns to New Mexico for this special event at the Historic Fuller Lodge in Los Alamos.

The program features a keynote presentation on his award‑winning nonfiction book, Soldiers and Kings, along with insights from his work as an anthropologist studying clandestine migration between Latin America and the United States. A Q&A session and book signing will follow the talk.

Local Bookstore and Teahouse, Samizdat will be on site with copies of Soldiers and Kings and De León’s earlier book, The Land of Open Graves: Living and Dying on the Migrant Trail for sale. Weather permitting, the library will also offer light refreshments on the patio after the event.

This event is free to attend, but registration is required. 

The library has many copies in several formats available for audience members who wish to read Soldiers and Kings ahead of the event. Place a hold here.

Author bio: 

Jason De León is Director of the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, Loyd E. Cotsen Endowed Chair of Archaeology, Professor of Anthropology and Chicana/o and Central American Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. De León is Executive Director of the Undocumented Migration Project (UMP) Inc. a 501(c)(3) research, arts, and education collective that seeks to raise awareness about migration issues globally while also assisting families of missing migrants be reunited with their loved ones.

Since 2009, the UMP has been studying clandestine migration between Latin America and the United States using a combination of ethnographic, visual, archaeological, and forensic approaches to understand this violent social process. De León has published numerous academic articles and his work with the UMP has been featured in a variety of popular media outlets.

He is the author of two award winning books: The Land of Open Graves: Living and Dying on the Migrant Trail (featuring photos by Michael Wells) and Soldiers and Kings. Soldiers and Kings won the 2024 National Book Award for Nonfiction. De León is also a 2017 MacArthur Foundation Fellow.