The Life and Works of Rudolfo A. Anaya

Rudolfo A. Anaya, a new born(p) Mexican writer, is considered sensation of the creators of Chicano Lit eonture. He is around screwn for his novel ordain Me, Ultima. He has been recognized with galore(postnominal) esteemed rewards for his work. As Anaya says, As a Chicano writer I am dismay around of a community which for the first date in our contemporary era has produced enough literary functionalss to create a literary movement. forward to the 1960s western literature was written about us, but seldom by us.Now the world has a truer insight into our world the gull is now from within as much and more Chicano and Chicana writers explore their candor (Rudolfo A(lfonso) Anaya Biography 1). Anaya was born on October 30, 1927 in the sm realisedly village of Pastura, pertly Mexico (Anaya 363, modern-day Hispanic Biography 1). He was born to Martin and Rafaelita Anaya. Anaya was the fifth of vii small fryren. His perplex came from a family of cattle workers and sheeph erders, was a buckaroo, a horseman who worked on ranches surrounding Pastura, and his mother came from a family of poor farmers (Contemporary Hispanic Biography 1).At a puppyish age, his family travel to Santa Rosa, parvenue Mexico. Their house was perched over the Pecos River, and young Anaya spent his childishness roaming around the planes with his friends, hunting, and fishing in the Pecos River. He was embossed in a strong Catholic household, he give tongue to, In my child hood world the power of prayer was supreme (Anaya 362). Also, Anaya grew up in a Spanish speaking only house hold. He utter that his parents only mostly spoke Spanish and that at the age of vi or seven when he jump offed school he knew very diminished to no English (Anaya 362-365). My parents spoke only Spanish. My dad worked for big ranchers and he could buy and sell cattle, which meant he could get along in English. unless at home it was a complete Spanish-speaking household. By the sequence I wen t to school when I was six or seven, I didnt discern English, I only knew Spanish (Stone). At the age of fifteen Anaya moved to Albuquerque, and he attended Albuquerque High School. In Albuquerque Anaya was exposed to prejudice against Hispanics as well as some cultural and ethnic differences he had non previously faced.Anaya pranked football and baseball in Albuquerque. He managed to turn away the trouble of gangs, and he kept good grades. (Anaya 364-366, Contemporary Hispanic Biography). At the age of sixteen Anaya suffered a diving accident. Diving into an irrigation ditch, Anaya broke deuce vertebrae he nearly killed himself. Anaya said in his short auto biography, The doctors would posterior explain that I had fractured twain vertebrae in my neck, and I had gone into photoflash paralysis. I could not move a muscle (Anaya 369).His mother nurse him through his paralysis with daily massaging the stiff limbs, and his friends never wavered. He swam, exercised, and tardily b egan to reenter the rough and tumble look. He mentions that one of the first things that he did was shine to the YMCA pool alone. As a way to conquer his fear he dove into the water alone (Anaya 369-372). In 1956, Anaya graduated from Albuquerque High School. Anaya consequently attended business school for two years before displace out and enrolling in the university. University life sent Anaya into an identity crisis. He speaks of losing his religion in god.Anaya order that the culture at the university was not his own also, Anaya found that his classes were devoid of relevance to his own culture. On top of all this a recently failed relationship with a girl pushed Anaya to begin writing to suffice his pain. However, much of these early writings were later(prenominal) destroyed. Anaya thanks his friends for helping him conk out the university. On weekends he would get with his friends and go out drinking, playing pool, and meet girls. Anaya received a degree and soon aft er accepted a teaching aim in a small town in New Mexico. (Anaya 373-375).In this small town he still go on to practice his writing everyday (Contemporary Hispanic Biography ). He get hitched with a young woman named Patricia Lawless. Patricia, from Kansas, fork outd him with encouragement, and Patricia would glance over his work and respond to its weaknesses (Anaya 374, Contemporary Hispanic Biography). Marriage provided Anaya with a stable base for which to write although, two miscarriages were the most hard-fought experiences of his married life. Through this stable base bring up me, Ultima was born. He would teach by the day, and he would come home at night to write. Anaya 376) Anaya says that his inspiration for Bless Me, Ultima came when he had a visual sensation of an antiquated woman change in black standing in his room, and it was this vision that inspired him to start writing the novel (Contemporary Hispanic Biography). In Anayas words, One light was on, a desk li ght near the typewriter, I perceive a noise and turned to see the old woman dressed in black enter the room (Anaya, 377). Bless me, Ultima tells the tier of Antonio Juan Marez y Luna, a six-year old boy growing up in untaught New Mexico during World War II.Antonio is befriended by Ultima, a kindly curandera, or healer, who has come to stay with Antonios family. Antonio discovers the mysteries of the plains surrounding him and learns how to use its plants for medicinal purposes. Ultima later cures curses placed on Antonios uncle by a family of witches. Much of the shimmer or conflict in the novel developed because of this. (Contemporary Hispanic Biography). This story relates in galore(postnominal) ways to Anayas own history. Antonio, in the novel, is pulled among his fathers wandering life as a vaquero and his mothers harmonic, grounded existence with the earth itself.He questions the validity of his Catholic corporate trust that seems helpless against pain and suffering whil e Ultimas whoremonger heals. He discovers the golden carp in the river, which as told in local folklore, is a god. The idea that the carp may share divinity with God, to Antonio, feels deal a betrayal of his mothers faith. However, this is a question that he cannot help but to ask (Anaya Bless Me, Ultima, Contemporary Hispanic Biography). In my first novel, Bless Me, Ultima, I utilize the race and the environment of my childhood as elements of the story. Like my protagonist, Antonio, my first language was Spanish.I was shaped by the traditions and culture of the free-wheeling cow punchers and sheep herders of the llano, a lifestyle my father knew well, and was also initiated into the profoundly religious, Catholic settled life of the farmers of Puerto de Luna, my mothers side of the family. (Anaya 380) Anaya eventually was produce by Berkeley. Although the path to getting published wasnt easy, I approached dozens of publishers, the top was always the same. I collected enoug h form letter rejections to paper the proverbial room, but I was undaunted (Anaya 379).Bless Me, Ultima was a ample success. Anaya won the prestigious Premio Quinto Sol honour for the novel. Anaya also received many other prestigious rewards for the novel. Such as, Anayas Bless Me, Ultima appeared on the colossal Read site. The Big read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the humanistic discipline designed to revitalize the role of literary reading in American popular culture. There are 30 controls selected every year for this site. Anayas Bless Me, Ultima was also chosen as one of the literary whole shebang to appear in the 2009 American Academic decathlon.The New York Times stated that the novel was, probably the trump-known and most respected contemporary Latino Fiction, and the San Francisco Chronicle said Bless Me, Ultima was a, poignant an important book that deserves to be hailed as a classic (Bless Me Ultima to be flimed in New Mexico reports Gov. Bill Rich ardson, 3) A Bless Me, Ultima sculpture was even made at the north entrance to Park Lake off Historic Route 66 in Santa Rosa (Santa Rosa Dedicates Bless Me, Ultima Rudolfo Anaya Sculpture Park, 4). A play was also made after Anayas Bless Me, Ultima, and has been shown all crossways New Mexico (Bless Me Ultima The Play).Also, a movie was made after the novel. The film versions began shoot in Santa Fe in October 2010 (Bless Me, Ultima Film Based on Rudolfo Anayas smart Will Shoot in N. M. ). The director of the film is Carl Franklin, and the film is stare Bento Marinez, David Rees Snell, and Miriam Colon (Bless Me, Ultima article, 2). Overall, Anayas Bless Me, Ultima has sold over 360,000 copies. (Rudolfo Anaya UNM Article, 3) Anayas father owned a cut back grant that stretched for miles along the Rio Grande in Albuquerques south valley, and then for miles west into the desert as far as the Rio Puerco.This grant had been passed down from generation to generations. Anayas father, as heir to the land grant, received and sold some lots that were part of the grant in the forties on the other hand, Anayas mother, having that peasant Nuevo Mexicano instinct and have a go at it for the land, believed the grant was a source of our values (Anaya 382). As Anaya said, she believed that someday we would all own a piece of that grant which had been handed down for generations (Anaya 382). However, the touchable history of the Spanish and Mexican land grants of New Mexico would prove her wrong. nigh of the big land grants were stolen away from the true inheritors. Anaya says that is was these themes that lead him to create his mo novel. The main character is Clemete Chavez, a farmer who loses his land at the start of the narrative and is forced to move into barrio in Albuquerque. While in the city, Chavez, and his family, they remain helplessly as their teenage children lose themselves in drugs violence, and sex. Chavez undertakes a soul-searching quest for an iden tity and a role for himself.As an attempt to provide a fictive analogue to the Chicano consciousness-raising efforts of the 1970s, the book ends with a Chicano march against the oppressive Santa Fe Railroad (Portales 2). Heart of Aztlan, was published in 1976. (Anaya 383) Anaya was invited to serve on the board of the Coordinating council of Literary Magazines (CCLM) in 1974. Their office was in New York. The council held regional workshops around the country twice a year and Anaya used this as a great way to meet different people in the writing community.Many of these friends would remain close friends with Anaya for life. (Anaya 380-385) During these years Anaya was workings on Tortuga. Tortuga was the third novel in his series, and it was designed to loosely complete his trilogy (Contemporary Hispanic Biography). Tortuga was his hospital story, and thus he considered it a very difficult novel for him to write however, many see it as one of his best novels, and it won the ahead Columbus American Book award from the Before Columbus foundation for Tortuga in 1980 (Contemporary Hispanic Biography).It was loosely based on his own experience in a hospital, but it quickly became more than that. The theme of healing still occupied my thoughts. How do people get well? I looked around and saw that we had created a society that was inhibition and mutilating us. People were sick physically and spiritually. How could those people be helped? The hospital I created became an existential hell, symbolizing our own contemporary hell In Tortuga I took my characters to the depths of despair and human suffering, and they find in their hellish existence the faith they need to survive in the world (Anaya 385).Anaya began to spend more time writing plays and learning the techniques of drama. Anaya wrote his first play in 1979, the Season of La Llorona, first produced in Albuquerque. The Farolitios of Christmas was produced in Albuquerque in 1987, Matachines was published in 19 92, Ay, Compadre was published in 1994, and Billy the Kid and Who Killed Don Jose was published in 1995. (Rudolfo A(lfonso) Anaya Biography) Anaya began working with and translating some old oral materials which had been collected by folklorist. This renewed his nexus to that exciting and deceital stream of oral tradition.Cuentos Tales from the Hispanic Southwest was published in 1980 (Anaya 389, Rudolfo A(lfonso) Anaya Biography). In his free time he was also working on making short stories. Somewhere between writing novels he would squeeze out short stories. In 1982, The Silence of Llano (short stories) was published by Berkeley. The Legend of La Llorona was published in 1984, and was soon followed by passkey of the Dawn The Legend of Quetzalcoatl. Anaya also wrote poems in his free time, The Adventures of Juan Chicaspatas was published by the Arte Publico Press in 1985. In 1986, A Chicano in China was ublished as a nonfiction account of Anayas travels to China. Also, Anaya beg an to edit numerous publications (Anaya 389). When asked wherefore he became a writer Anaya responds, I became a writer in my childhood. That is why that time has been so important to me. The character of my childhood, the family, friends, and neighbors that make up my world, they and their lives fed my imagination (Anaya 375). In 1995, Anaya published his first murder mystery, Zia summertime also in 1995, Anaya released his book Albuquerque, a good he considered to be a celebration of the city.Zia Summer was followed by rio Grande Fall in 1996, a continuation of his murder mystery series. In 1999, Anaya introduced Shaman Winter. Finally in 2005, Jemez Spring was introduced. Aside from writing, Anaya was a teacher. Anaya began teaching at junior risque schools first, then at High schools throughout Albuquerque (Anaya 370). His first teaching position was in a small New Mexican town. Anaya, then, began to work as a public school teacher in Albuquerque from 1963 to 1970. He was ord ained the Director of counseling of the University of Albuquerque in 1971. (Rudolfo A.Anaya, article) Then, in 1974, Anaya was offered a position at UNM to teach creative writing (Anaya 380). Anaya worked at UNM from 1974-1993 when he retired. (Rudolfo A. Anaya, article) As Anaya says on the topic of his retirement from UNM, I dont view go forth the University of New Mexico and teaching as retirement. I view it more as the mid-career change, to do a lot of writing and other things, like reading. I want to do more essays. So I think its just a shift of energy into new areas (Anaya, Dick, Sirias, 153). Anaya has received many awards and honors throughout his career.He was awarded the prestigious Premio Quinto Sol literary award for Bless Me, Ultima in 1970 (Anaya, 363). Anaya has been awarded the New Mexico Governors Public Service Award twice, in 1978 and in 1980. The Before Columbus Book award was rewarded to him for Tortuga in 1980. (Contemporary Hispanic Biography) In 1982, Anaya received the Corporation for Public Broadcasting al-Quran development award for Rosa Linda (Biography of Rudolfo Anaya (1937-). He received the Award for feat in Chicano Literature from the Hispanic Caucus of Teachers of English in 1983.In a Salute to American Poets and Writers, Anaya was invited by President Jimmy Carter to read at the White House (Gonzales, 1). The PEN-West Fiction Award was awarded to Anaya in 1992 for Albuquerque (Biography of Rudolfo Anaya (1937). In 2002, Anaya was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President George Bush. He was one of the eight Americans receiving the award at Constitution Hall. Anaya received the award for his component to American literature that has brought recognition to the traditions of the Chicano people. Gonzales, 2) In 2003, Anaya was awarded the Outstanding Latino/a Cultural Award in Literary Arts or Publications (Biography of Rudolfo Anaya (1937). Since Anayas retirement from the UNM English department in 1993, he has dedica ted his life to traveling, writing, and reading. He currently lives in Albuquerque with his wife, the same state where he was born (Rudolfo Anaya Author of Bless Me, Ultima Article). He has said that he has no appetite to leave. Anaya is overall, one of the most successful and one of the most significant figures in the landscape of Chicano literature.Anaya says, As a mestizo, a person born from these two broad streams (or more correctly, from many inheritances), I want to create a synthesis, a worldview (Rudolfo A(lfonso) Anaya Biography, 2). Anaya lives and breathes the landscape of the Southwest. Anaya sees this as a powerful force, full of magic and myth, and this is apparent in all of his writings. Anaya has moved from one genre to the next, an acclaimed novelist, a poet, a dramatist, an essayist, and anthologist, a playwright, a childrens author, a travel writer, and finally, an editor.His works are standard texts in Chicano studies and literature courses around the world. He has through with(p) more than, perhaps, any other person to promote Chicano literature. As Anaya said, I fished, scaled the mountains of Taos, hunted with Cruz from the pueblo, finished high school, entered the university, married, and began to travel. I climbed mountains and crossed oceans and deserts in foreign places my old friends back home didnt know existed. So who is to judge whether an adversity comes to crush us or to retread us (Anaya 371).