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Gary Soto (born April 1952) is an American author and poet. Image File history File links Question_book-3. ... This article is about work. ... In English usage, nationality is the legal relationship between a person and a country. ... The Academy of American Poets is the largest organization in the United States dedicated to the art of poetry. ... The American Book Award was established in 1978 by the Before Columbus Foundation. ... Thomas Berger (born 1933), Canadian politician Thomas Berger, U.S. novelist (Little Big Man) This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Gabriel Garcia Marquez Gabriel García Márquez (born March 6, 1928) is a Colombian novelist, journalist, publisher, and political activist. ... Pablo Neruda (July 12, 1904 – September 23, 1973) was the penname and, later, legal name of the Chilean writer and communist politician Ricardo Eliecer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto. ... Carson McCullers, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1959 Carson McCullers (February 19, 1917 – September 29, 1967) was an American writer. ... Richard Russo (born July 15, 1949) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist. ... John Galsworthy OM (14 August 1867 – 31 January 1933) was an English novelist and playwright. ... Walter Mosley Walter Mosley (born January 12, 1952) is a prominent American novelist, most widely recognized for his crime fiction. ... James A. Crumley (born 12 October 1939 in Three Rivers, Texas) is the author of violent hardboiled crime novels and several volumes of short stories and essays, as well as published and unpublished screenplays. ... Richard Ford (born February 16, 1944) is an American novelist and short story writer. ... Christopher Ferdinand Durang (born January 2, 1949) is an American playwright known for works of outrageous and often absurd comedy. ... David Alan Mamet (born November 30, 1947) is an American author, essayist, playwright, screenwriter, and film director. ... Herbert Ernest Bates who wrote as H.E. Bates (May 16, 1905 - January 29, 1974) was an English writer and author. ... A.R. Gurney (1930- ) is an American playwright and novelist. ... Martín Espada Martín Espada (born 1957) is a poet and professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he teaches creative writing and Latino poetry. ... William Robertson Davies, CC, FRSC, FRSL (born August 28, 1913, at Thamesville, Ontario, and died December 2, 1995 at Orangeville, Ontario) was a Canadian novelist, playwright, critic, journalist, and professor. ... Elmore John Leonard Jr. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Year 1952 (MCMLII) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see Author (disambiguation). ... A poet (from the ancient Greek ποιητης, poïêtes (artisan) ; ποιέω, poieō) is a person who writes poetry. ...

Biography

Soto was born and raised in Fresno, California, to working-class Mexican-American parents. He had an older brother named Rick, and a younger sister named Debra. Soto lived in Fresno where he worked as a factory laborer. His inspirational poetry artists were:Thomas Berger, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Pablo Neruda, Carson McCullers, Richard Russo, John Galsworthy, Walter Mosley, Edward Fields, James Crumley, Richard Ford, Christopher Durang, David Mamet, H.E. Bates, A.R. Gurney, Nick Cinturati, Martín Espada, Robertson Davies, Elmore Leonard, and William Shakespeare.^[1] Fresno redirects here. ... This article is about the U.S. state. ... Thomas Berger (born 1933), Canadian politician Thomas Berger, U.S. novelist (Little Big Man) This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Gabriel Garcia Marquez Gabriel García Márquez (born March 6, 1928) is a Colombian novelist, journalist, publisher, and political activist. ... Pablo Neruda (July 12, 1904 – September 23, 1973) was the penname and, later, legal name of the Chilean writer and communist politician Ricardo Eliecer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto. ... Carson McCullers, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1959 Carson McCullers (February 19, 1917 – September 29, 1967) was an American writer. ... Richard Russo (born July 15, 1949) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist. ... John Galsworthy OM (14 August 1867 – 31 January 1933) was an English novelist and playwright. ... Walter Mosley Walter Mosley (born January 12, 1952) is a prominent American novelist, most widely recognized for his crime fiction. ... James A. Crumley (born 12 October 1939 in Three Rivers, Texas) is the author of violent hardboiled crime novels and several volumes of short stories and essays, as well as published and unpublished screenplays. ... Richard Ford (born February 16, 1944) is an American novelist and short story writer. ... Christopher Ferdinand Durang (born January 2, 1949) is an American playwright known for works of outrageous and often absurd comedy. ... David Alan Mamet (born November 30, 1947) is an American author, essayist, playwright, screenwriter, and film director. ... Herbert Ernest Bates who wrote as H.E. Bates (May 16, 1905 - January 29, 1974) was an English writer and author. ... A.R. Gurney (1930- ) is an American playwright and novelist. ... Martín Espada Martín Espada (born 1957) is a poet and professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he teaches creative writing and Latino poetry. ... William Robertson Davies, CC, FRSC, FRSL (born August 28, 1913, at Thamesville, Ontario, and died December 2, 1995 at Orangeville, Ontario) was a Canadian novelist, playwright, critic, journalist, and professor. ... Elmore John Leonard Jr. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ...

He had very low grades throughout school, but became interested in poetry in high school and began writing poetry while he attended Fresno City College. Soto moved on to California State University, Fresno for his undergraduate degree, and then to the University of California, Irvine, where he earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in 1976.^{[citation needed]} Fresno City College is a city college in Fresno, California. ... The campus on a sunny day California State University, Fresno, commonly referred to as Fresno State, is one of the campuses of California State University, located at the northeast edge of Fresno, California, USA. The campus sits at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in the San Joaquin... The University of California, Irvine is a public research university primarily situated in suburban Irvine, California, USA. Founded in 1965, it is one of ten University of California campuses and is commonly known as UCI or UC Irvine. ... In the United States, a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) is a terminal graduate degree in an area of visual, plastic, literary or performing arts typically requiring two to three years of study beyond the bachelor level. ...

His work earned him recognition in the semi_late 70's, when he won an Academy of American Poets Prize. His first book of poems, The Elements of San Joaquin, which contains grim pictures of Mexican American life in California's Central Valley, was published in 1987. In 1985, he joined the faculty at the University of California, Berkeley, where he taught in both the English department and Chicano Studies department. He stopped teaching in 1994 to write full-time, but returned to teaching in 2003 with a post at University of California, Riverside.^{[citation needed]} The Academy of American Poets is the largest organization in the United States dedicated to the art of poetry. ... The California Central Valley Part of the Valley as seen from overhead A typical Central Valley scene at ground level The California Central Valley is a large, flat valley that dominates the central portion of the U.S. state of California. ... See also: 1986 in literature, other events of 1987, 1988 in literature, list of years in literature. ... Sather Tower (the Campanile) looking out over the San Francisco Bay and Mount Tamalpais. ... The University of California, Riverside, commonly known as UCR or UC Riverside, is a public research university and one of 10 campuses of the University of California system. ...

His prolific output of poetry, memoirs, short stories, children's novels, plays, essays, and fiction continues and has earned him numerous prizes, including an American Book Award from the Before Columbus Foundation for "Living up the Street" (1985).^[2] The American Book Award was established in 1978 by the Before Columbus Foundation. ...

Publications

Poetry:

• New and selected poems(Chronicle Books, 1995) National Book Award finalist
• Canto Familiar/Familiar Song (1994)
• Neighborhood Odes (1992)
• Home Course in Religion (1991)
• Who Will Know Us? (1990)
• Black Hair (1985)
• Where Sparrows Work Hard (1981)
• The Tale of Sunlight (1978)
• The Elements of San Joaquin (1977)

Novels: The National Book Awards is one of the most preeminent literary prizes in the United States. ...

• Crazy Weekend (1994)
• Poetry Lover (University of New Mexico Press, 2001)
• Nickel and Dime (2000)
• Buried Onions(2003)
• BaseBall in April
• Buried Onions
• BaseBall in April
• The Afterlife (2005)

Memoir:

• Living Up the Street (1985), American Book Award

Young Adult/Childrens' Books: There are very few or no other articles that link to this one. ... The American Book Award was established in 1978 by the Before Columbus Foundation. ...

• 'Summer On Wheels (1995)

Anthologies:

• Pieces of Heart (1993)
• California Childhood (1988)
• Entrance: Four Latino Poets (1976).

Awards and honors

His honors include the Andrew Carnegie Medal, the United States Award of the International Poetry Forum, The Nation/"Discovery" Prize, and the Bess Hokin Prize and the Levinson Award from Poetry. He has also received fellowships from the California Arts Council, the Guggenheim Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Currently, he is writing for Partly Cloudy: Poems of Love and Longing, which will be published in spring of 2008.^{[citation needed]} Andrew Carnegie (properly pronounced , but commonly or )[1] (November 25, 1835 – August 11, 1919) was a Scottish industrialist, businessman, a major philanthropist, and the founder of Pittsburghs Carnegie Steel Company which was later merged with Elbert H. Garys Federal Steel Company and several smaller companies to create U... Poetry, published in Chicago, Illinois, is one of the leading monthly poetry journals in the English-speaking world. ... Poetry, published in Chicago, Illinois, is one of the leading monthly poetry journals in the English-speaking world. ... Poetry, published in Chicago, Illinois, is one of the leading monthly poetry journals in the English-speaking world. ... 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. ...

NEW AND SELECTED POEMS was a 1995 finalist for both the Los Angeles Times Book Award and the National Book Award. He has received the Bess Hokin Prize and the Levinson Award, the Discovery-The Nation Prize, the U.S. Award of the International Poetry Forum, The California Library Association's John and Patricia Beatty Award [twice], a Recogniton of Merit from the Claremont Graduate School for Baseball in April, the Silver Medal from The Commonwealth Club of California, and the Tomás Rivera Prize, in addition to fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts (twice), and the California Arts Council. In 1999 he received the Literature Award from the Hispanic Heritage Foundation, the Author-Illustrator Civil Rights Award from the National Education Association, and the PEN Center West Book Award for Petty Crimes. ^[3]

See also

Literature Portal

• List of Mexican American writers

Chicano literature tends to focus on themes of identity, discrimination, culture, and history, with an emphasis on validating the Mexican American experience or Chicano culture in the United States. ...

References