Alejandro Morales, a novelist and professor of Chicano/Latino studies at UC Irvine, is the recipient of this year’s Luis Leal Award for Distinction in Chicano/Latino Literature. UCSB, Santa Barbara City College, and the Santa Barbara Book Council present the award annually.

Morales will receive the Leal Award at the Santa Barbara Book & Author Festival on Saturday, Sept. 29, at 3:15 p.m. in the Santa Barbara Public Library.

Considered one of the country’s premier Latino writers of fiction, Morales is the author of several biographical novels in which he tells the story of a fictional character using historical events. He has published seven books, including his newest, “The Captain of All These Men of Death.”

An award-winning author who grew up in East Los Angeles, Morales has said many of his ideas come from life experiences. For example, “The Brick People,” which tells the story of an immigrant family in the early 1900s going to work for Simons Brick Company, parallels the lives of Morales’s parents, who worked for the same company.

“We are extremely pleased to honor Alejandro Morales this year because he is a true pioneer in Chicano literature, and one of the most outstanding, powerful, and innovative writers on the Chicano experience,” says Mario Garcia, professor of Chicana and Chicano studies and history, and the organizer of the annual Leal Award.