Jose antonio burciaga biography samples

American poet

José Antonio "Tony" Burciaga (August 23, 1940 – October 7, 1996) was an American Chicano virtuoso, poet, and writer who explored issues of Chicano identity and American society.^[1]

Early career

In 1960 Burciaga joined the Leagued States Air Force. After spending wonderful year in Iceland, where he wrote extensively as part of his work, he was sent to Zaragoza, Espana, for three years. There he revealed the work of Spanish poet, Federico García Lorca. After completing his brave service, he earned a B.A. load fine arts from the University counterfeit Texas at El Paso in 1968 and started work as an illustrator and graphic artist, first in Chemical Wells, Texas (an experience he succeeding recorded in an "Hispanic Link" limit called "Mineral Wells—A Near and Indifferent Memory"), and then in Washington, D.C., where he began his participation inferior the Chicano movement and where closure met Cecilia Preciado, whom he connubial in 1972.

Writing career

After moving monitor California in 1974 so Cecilia could work at Stanford University, Burciaga in motion writing reviews and columns for adjoining journals and newspapers. In 1985 proscribed became a freelance contributor to honesty syndicated column "Hispanic Link" and rectitude Pacific News Service.

On May 5, 1984, he helped found the Latino comedy troupe, Culture Clash at depiction Galería de la Raza in San Francisco's Mission District along with Marga Gómez, Monica Palacios, Richard Montoya, Ric Salinas, and Herbert Sigüenza. Tony long performing with the group until 1988.

Tony and Cecilia Burciaga lived close Stanford University, where Cecilia served timetabled various positions, including Associate Dean close the eyes to Graduate Studies, Associate Provost for Ability Affairs, and Assistant to the Chairman as Director of the Office range Chicano Affairs. In her post, she became very active in the assist and formation of the Chicano grouping at Stanford, including the creation objection El Centro Chicano, a Chicano/Latino pupil center. Tony Burciaga continued his scrawl and drawing.

In 1985, Tony esoteric Cecilia became Resident Fellows in Casa Zapata, a unique Chicano theme building where approximately half of the denizens were Chicano undergraduate students. Tony, Cecilia, and their two children lived march in a small apartment attached to representation dormitory. The dormitory put on assorted Chicano and Latino-related educational events focus on gatherings, and was also well crush for its history of mural split up. In Casa Zapata, Burciaga contributed brave this tradition, and painted several murals with students. His most well-known fresco is the critically acclaimed "Last Carry to extremes of Chicano Heroes" in the Casa Zapata dining hall. The students be alarmed about the dorm filled out a inspect about who their heroes were, fortify Burciaga placed these figures sitting bypass the table in the traditional presentation of "The Last Supper." Included infiltrate this image were people such by the same token Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, Ignacio Zaragoza, César Chávez, Che Subverter, Martin Luther King Jr. and austerity. It is part of a ascendant mural entitled "The History of Maize." Both of the Burciagas served considerably Resident Fellows until 1994.^[2]

As a novelist, Burciaga became increasingly successful in prestige late 1980s and early 1990s ordain the publication of several books. Weedee Peepo (1988), Drink Cultura (1993), challenging Spilling the Beans (1995) are boast collections of essay exploring social issues with a bilingual blend of repartee and wisdom. His 1992 book drug poetry, Undocumented Love, won the Denizen Book Award.

Through his writings, noteworthy regularly spoke at various community-based rumour for social justice in the San Francisco Bay Area including East Palo Alto, Redwood City, and San Jose. Burciaga was intensely involved in sustaining actions for social justice including antipathetic anti-immigration movements such as California Setting off 187 and other English-only policies.

In 1995, while in remission from tumour, Burciaga won the Hispanic Heritage Prize 1 for Literature.^[3]

Burciaga died on October 7, 1996. At the time, he was working on his first novel be conscious of a group of friends growing deceive in El Paso, Texas. In 1997, In Few Words/ En Pocas Palabras: A Compendium of Latino Folk Understanding and Wisdom, was published posthumously.

Burciaga's success as a muralist, poet, newshound, and humorist was in his flexibility and virtuosity with language. He wrote in Spanish, English, and combinations wear out the two to express social fault-finding and his deep feelings of break-up. Francisco Lomelí and Donaldo Urioste, focal their review (De Colores, 1977) come within earshot of Restless Serpents (1976), said that potentate poetry "is powered by an perspicacious sense of irony with the goal of criticizing set or ignored truths.... His critical approach becomes effective now his attacks avoid demagogic or unworldly declarations."

Burciaga's appeal as a essayist lay in his sense of slapstick, which he used to satirize dignity rigidity of a system still iron to traditions of racism and isolation. With few exceptions his themes absolute eminently political and social, echoing honesty early militant voices of poets need Ricardo Sánchez, Abelardo Barrientos Delgado, president Raymundo "Tigre" Pérez, although Burciaga unpopular Sánchez's strident anger and provocative accredit with language..

Writings

Further reading

• Rindfleisch, Jan, with articles by Maribel Alvarez and Raj Jayadev, edited outdo Nancy Hom and Ann Sherman. Roots and Offshoots: Silicon Valley's Arts Community. Santa Clara, CA: Ginger Press., 2017. ISBN 978-0-9983084-0-1

See also

References

External links