Alberto Álvaro Ríos (b. 1952, Nogales, Arizona) is the author of nine books and chapbooks of poetry, three collections of short stories, and a memoir. He is a Regents' professor of English at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona. His work is regularly taught and translated, and has been adapted to dance and both classical and popular music. ^[1] Nogales, Santa Cruz Co. ... Arizona State University (ASU) is a public institution of higher education and research with several campuses located in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area. ... Downtown Tempe and Arizona State University Tempe (pronounced by local residents) is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, USA, with a 2004 population estimate of 160,676. ...

Biography

Rìos was born in 1952 in Nogales, Arizona, a town straddling the U.S.-Mexican border. Ríos spoke both Spanish and English as a child. His father was born in Mexico and his mother in England. Alberto Ríos' poems echo this multicultural upbringing. As a child, teachers punished him for speaking Spanish in school. He and other bilingual classmates wrote notes in Spanish and left them in the trashcan for each other to find. It was considered "bad" and he forgot how to speak the language for a time. His poem Nani describes an encounter with his Spanish speaking grandmother and his inability to communicate with her. They find other ways to identify with each other, through body language and food. 1952 (MCMLII) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Nogales, Santa Cruz Co. ... The international border between Mexico and the United States runs a total of 3,141 km (1,951 miles) from San Diego, California, and Tijuana, Baja California, in the west to Matamoros, Tamaulipas, and Brownsville, Texas, in the east. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: Multiple unofficial anthems Capital London Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Unification    - by Athelstan AD 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq mi  Population    - 2005 est. ... Nani can mean: A character from the animated Disney movie Lilo & Stitch. ...

Ríos started writing in the second grade, although he referred to it as "daydreaming". It was a secret act, like speaking Spanish. He did not think his friends or family would understand him, so he kept his writings hidden in the backs of his school notebooks. He did not share his poems with anyone until high school, where a teacher recognized his talent and introduced him to writers like Lawrence Ferlinghetti. It was also around this time that Ríos recovered his lost Spanish tongue, although the stigma of speaking it remained with him, memories of being "swatted" by his teacher. He would go on to study literature at the University of Arizona, where he graduated in 1974 with his BA and again a year later with a degree in psychology. He studied law for a brief period, but he returned to the University of Arizona to pursue creative writing, where he received his MFA in 1979. That same year he married Lupita Barron. He and his wife currently reside in Chandler, Arizona. They have a son, Joaquin, who is a student activist at Arizona State University. Ríos is author of several books of poetry and prose. He started teaching creative writing at Arizona State University in 1981, where he is Regents' Professor of English. Lawrence Ferlinghetti Lawrence Ferlinghetti (born March 24, 1919) is a poet who is best known as the co-owner of the City Lights Bookstore and publishing house, which published early literary works of the Beat Generation, including Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg. ... Old book bindings at the Merton College library. ... The University of Arizona (UA or U of A) is a land-grant and space-grant public institution of higher education and research located in Tucson, Arizona, United States. ... 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... Creative writing is a term used to distinguish certain imaginative or different types of writing from generic writing. ... This page refers to the year 1979. ... Chandler (Pima: Canli) is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, USA. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 176,582. ... The Chinese poem Quatrain on Heavenly Mountain by Emperor Gaozong (Song Dynasty) Poetry (from the Greek , poiesis, making or creating) is a form of art in which language is used for its aesthetic qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its ostensible meaning. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Arizona State University (ASU) is a public institution of higher education and research with several campuses located in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area. ...

His Writing

Ríos' poetry has a noticable emphasis on the role of strong female characters, possible due to his close relationship with his auntie. A bigger influence on his writings however, was that of his relearning spanish and the accompanying alternate view of his world. Ríos explains this influence in his own words during a lecture:

By junior high school and the beginning of high school, I could no longer speak Spanish––which is to say, I didn't want to; I was embarrassed, and I didn't practice. Not until my later years of high school and college did I relearn Spanish, but that is what I had to do, relearn. It was more than words; it was learning how to look at something in more than one way.

After all these years, however, this was the bonus. In having to pay double and triple attention to language––first to forget, and then to relearn––I began to see earnestly how everything, every object, every idea, had at least two names, and that the process, rather than my counting it as any kind of a detriment in my life, worked instead, luckily, more like a pair of binoculars. It showed me how, by using two lenses, one might see something more closely, and thereby understand it better. ^[2]

Ríos again talks about this duality of language in an interview with Sheila Britton on the Arizona State University website:

If you’ve got only one word for something, it lacks dimension even in how you conceive of it. How you name it tells a lot. If I know that el vaso is also a glass, or an iguana killer is also a baseball bat, I’ve immediately got two ways to conceive of it. The thing has depth, and therefore I can’t help but understand it better.

I think about using two lenses, two ways of looking at something. Two lenses bring something that’s far away much closer, and anything that’s closer you see better. When you see it better, you understand it more clearly. ^[3]

Bibliography

Poetry

His books of poems include

• The Theater of Night (Copper Canyon Press, 2006),^[4]
• The Smallest Muscle in the Human Body( Copper Canyon Press, 2002) which was nominated for the National Book Award,
• Teodoro Luna's Two Kisses
• The Lime Orchard Woman
• The Warrington Poems
• Five Indiscretions
• Whispering to Fool the Wind

The National Book Award is one of the most important literary prizes in the United States, presented annually for the best books by living U.S. citizens published in the U.S. The awards have been presented since 1950 in at least one category, and are presently awarded in each...

Short stories

• The Curtain of Trees
• Pig Cookies
• The Iguana Killer
• Trains at Night
• The Secret Lion

Non-fiction

• Capirotada, a memoir about growing up on the Mexican border

Honors

• 2002 finalist for the 2002 National Book Award
• At her request, Ríos wrote and delivered a poem at the inauguration of Janet Napolitano, Governor of the State of Arizona
• At Governor Napolitano's request, wrote a poem for the visit of President Vicente Fox of Mexico.
• 2002 recipient of the Western Literature Association's Distinguished Achievement Award
• Arizona Governor's Arts Award
• Guggenheim Foundation fellowship
• National Endowment for the Arts fellowship
• Walt Whitman Award
• Western States Book Award for Fiction
• six Pushcart Prizes in both poetry and fiction
• inclusion in The Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry
• inclusion in over 175 other national and international literary anthologies
• selected as a 2005 Historymaker by the Arizona History Society's Museum, a Smithsonian affiliate, at Papago Park, Tempe, Arizona

Janet Napolitano (b. ... Official language(s) English Capital Phoenix Largest city Phoenix Area  Ranked 6th  - Total 113,998 sq mi (295,254 km²)  - Width 310 miles (500 km)  - Length 400 miles (645 km)  - % water 0. ... Vicente Fox Quesada[1] (born July 2, 1942) served as President of Mexico from December 1, 2000 to December 1, 2006. ... The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation funds the Guggenheim Museums. ... The National Endowment for the Arts is a United States federally funded program that offers support and funding for projects that exhibit artistic excellence. ... The Walt Whitman Award is given by the American Academy of Poets to an American poet who has never before published a book of poetry. ... The Pushcart Prize - Best of the small Presses series, published every year since 1976, is the most honored literary project in America. ... The Smithsonian castle, as seen through the garden gate. ... Papago () Park is a municipal park of the cities of Phoenix and Tempe, Arizona, USA. Description Papago Park is a hilly desert park covering some 490 hectares (1200 acres) in its Phoenix extent, and some 140 hectares (296 acres) in its Tempe extent (the latter is also referred to specifically...

References

1. ^ Alberto Ríos (website maintained by Arizona State University).
2. ^ Forgotten Language – a lecture by Alberto Ríos.
3. ^ Discovering the Alphabet of Life.
4. ^ Rios, Alberto (February 2005). The Theater of Night (Hardcover), 1st Ed. (in English), Port Townsend, WA: Copper Canyon Press, 96pp.. ISBN 1-55659-230-2.

• Interview from Americas Review. Retrieved February 19, 2006.

• "A Short Biography." Retrieved February 19, 2006.
• Interview from Red Rock Review. Retrieved March 6, 2006.
• Interview from Bloomsbury Review. Retrieved March 6, 2006.
• Interview from Research. Retrieved March 6, 2006.
• Interview from Glimmer Train. Retrieved March 6, 2006.

External links

• ASU English Department Who's Who Entry
• Alberto Rios on My Space
• "A Yellow Leaf" (a poem) by Alberto Rios.