Li receives prestigious LRA book award

December 6, 2013
Guofang Li

Guofang Li

Guofang Li has been given the 2013 Edward B. Fry Book Award by the Literacy Research Association (LRA).

She was presented the award at an LRA plenary session in Dallas, Texas, for her book, “Culturally Contested Literacies: America’s “Rainbow Underclass” and Urban School.”

The award committee selected Li’s book based on a variety of criteria, including:

  • Advancing knowledge about literacy
  • Raising thought-provoking issues
  • Successful demonstration of responsible intellectual risk-taking

“This is my second time receiving the award, and it’s very exciting,” said Li, an associate professor in the Department of Teacher Education. “The book disturbs the comfortable feeling of what’s acceptable, and is about critical issues of race, class and gender, as lived by people in the inner-city environment. It’s great to be recognized for this work.”

Li is currently serving a three-year term on the LRA board, and is one of two Asian Americans ever elected to the board.