Conversations with Rudolfo Anaya (Literary Conversations)

the long version

In 1972 Rudolfo Anaya made a quiet entry into American literature with the publication of Bless Me, Ultima. It was the first Chicano novel to enter the American literary canon, and it helped identify Anaya as one of the founders of Chicano literature. In this collection of interviews Anaya talks about his life and how New Mexico, his home state, influences his work. The interviews explore the importance that myths and spiritual matters play in his writings. Anaya shares his intimate knowledge of the long struggle of ethnic writers to gain acceptance by mainstream publishers. He also discusses his faith in Chicano literature and the politics of "hate, prejudice, and bigotry" that minorities face throughout the United States. Yet Anaya remains consistent in his call for all Americans to understand one another. For three decades he has been a tireless agent in the push for multiculturalism in his native land.