By Kelly Sullivan

Today marks the first day of “An Exhibition of Latinos in Literature and Art.”

The week-long event is sponsored by various members of the Northeastern community including the Latin American Student Organization (LASO), the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers and the Latino Student Cultural Center (LSCC).

Dominican science fiction author Jonot Diaz is opening the week.

“We decided to bring him here because literature is an expression of art,” said Victor Morales, vice president of LASO and chair for the Hispanic Heritage Month Committee.

Diaz, a professor of creative writing at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is the author of “Drown” (1996) and “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao” (2007). He will speak tonight at 6:30 p.m. in the Curry Student Center Inner Quad.

On Thursday at 6 p.m., Puerto Rican painter Jose Rios will also speak in the Curry Student Center Inner Quad.

“We wanted him to speak on his pieces and how he started to paint,” said Luz Mederos, president of LASO. “We wanted to know what inspired him and to speak on his past.”

Rios’ paintings will be on display Oct. 4 to Oct. 6 in the Art Gallery located on the first floor of the Curry Student Center.

Hispanic Heritage Month’s Art Week will also feature community art by artists from Cacique Youth Learning Center for Teens (CYLC), which is an extension of the cultural group Inquilinos Boricuas en Acci