Rudolfo Anaya, author of Bless me, Ultima is a native New Mexican and winner of several literary awards and fellowships, including the National Endowment for the Arts. Extremely influential in Chicano literature, he was dubbed "godfather and guru of Chicano literature" by Tony Hillerman.
Born in rural Pastura, NM, in 1937, Anaya earned his BA and MA degrees in English from the University of New Mexico and spent about twenty years on the faculty at UNM until his retirement in 1993. According to UNM's "Writing the Southwest" series, "Rudolfo Anaya lives and breathes the landscape of the Southwest--it is a powerful force, full of magic and myth, integral to his writings."
After Bless Me Ultima (1972), Anaya wrote two more novels, Heart of Aztlan and Tortuga, in the 1970s. These three comprise a trilogy of New Mexico culture. Anaya's other titles include:
The Silence of the Llano (1982)The Legend of La Llorona (1984)
A Chicano in China (1986)
The Anaya Reader (1995)
Rio Grande Fall (1996)
Shaman Winter (1998)
Alburquerque (1999)
Zia Summer (2000)
Jemez Spring (2005)
These, and more, are on display at Fogelson Library. Come in, check 'em out!
For more online information on Rudolfo Anaya, see
National Endowment for the Arts/blessmeultima/anaya
http://www.unm.edu/~wrtgsw/anaya.html
http://www.nndb.com/people/834/000048690
and the Credo database entry at http://www.credoreference.com/entry/abclatlit/anaya_rudolfo_a_1937
Bless me, Ultima, Anaya's first-published and best-known novel is being made into a film at the Garson Studios. It will be adapted and directed by Carl Franklin, director of Out of Time (2003) and High Crimes (2002).
http://www.santafeuniversity.edu/en/News/NewsRoom/BlessMe.aspx
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1390398/
