Anaya, Rudolfo A.

Photo by Cynthia Farah Haines. Part of Writers of the Southwest Collection, PICT 986-008.

Rudolfo Anaya was born to Martín and Rafaelita Mares Anaya on October 30, 1937 in Pastura, New Mexico. He attended public schools in Santa Rosa and Albuquerque. A student in the English Department at the University of New Mexico, he earned a B.A. in 1963 and an M.A. in 1968. In 1972 he earned a second M.A. in guidance and counseling, also from the University of New Mexico. Anaya married Patricia Lawless in 1966. After teaching in Albuquerque public schools from 1963-1970, he became director of counseling at the University of Albuquerque. He began teaching in the English Department at the University of New Mexico in 1974 where he remained until he retired in 1993.

Anaya achieved national recognition and an international reputation as a prominent author of Chicano literature. Since the publication of his first and best known novel, Bless Me, Última in 1972, he has produced a large body of work including: Heart of Aztlán, Tortuga, Alburquerque, Zia Summer, Rio Grande Fall, Shaman Winter, The Legend of La Llorona and short stories, plays, poetry, essays, and anthologies. He has also written the lyrics for an opera based on the legend of La Llorona.

Rudolfo Anaya has received many awards and honors. These include the New Mexico Endowment for the Humanities Lifetime Achievement in the Humanities Award, the Mexican Medal of Friendship, an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters Degree from the University of Albuquerque, and the Governor's Award for Literature. In 2002, Anaya was awarded the National Medal of Arts for his "exceptional contribution to contemporary American literature that has brought national recognition to the traditions of the Chicano people, and for his efforts to promote Hispanic writers."