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Gary Soto | |
|---|---|
 Soto at the 2001National Book Festival | |
| Born | Gary Anthony Soto (1952-04-12)April 12, 1952 (age 73) |
| Occupation | Author, poet |
| Education | MFA |
| Alma mater | UC Irvine, CSU Fresno |
| Period | 1977–present |
| Genre | poetry, novels, memoirs, children's literature |
| Notable works | Petty Crimes New and Selected Poems Living Up the Street |
| Notable awards | Academy of American Poets Prize American Book Award NEA Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowship |
| Website | |
| garysoto | |
Gary Anthony Soto (born April 12, 1952) is an American poet, novelist, and memoirist.
Soto was born to Mexican-American parents Manuel (1910–1957) and Angie Soto (1924–). In his youth, he worked in the fields of theSan Joaquin Valley. Soto's father died in 1957, when he was five years old. As his family had to struggle to find work, he had little time or encouragement in his studies.[1] Soto notes that in spite of his early academic record, while at high school he found an interest in poetry through writers such asErnest Hemingway,John Steinbeck,Jules Verne,Robert Frost andThornton Wilder.[2]
Soto attendedFresno City College andCalifornia State University, Fresno, where he earned hisB.A. degree in English in 1974,[2] studying with poetPhilip Levine.[1] He did graduate work in poetry writing at theUniversity of California, Irvine, where he was the first Mexican-American to earn aM.F.A. in 1976. He states that he wanted to become a writer in college after discovering the novelistGabriel García Márquez and the contemporary poetsEdward Field,W. S. Merwin,Charles Simic,James Wright andPablo Neruda, whom he calls "the master of them all."[2]
Soto taught atUniversity of California, Berkeley[1] and at theUniversity of California, Riverside,[3] where he was a Distinguished Professor.[4]
Soto was a 'Young People's Ambassador' for theUnited Farm Workers of America, introducing young people to the organization's work and goals.[1] Soto became the sponsor for the Pattonville High School Spanish National Honor Society in 2009.[5]
Soto lives in northern California, dividing his time betweenBerkeley and Fresno, but is no longer teaching.[6]
Soto's poetry focuses on daily experiences,[1] often reflecting on his life as aMexican American. Regarding his relationship with the Mexican-American community, Soto commented "as a writer, my duty is not to make people perfect, particularly Mexican Americans. I’m not a cheerleader. I’m one who provides portraits of people in the rush of life."[2]
Soto writes novels, plays and memoirs, and has edited several literary anthologies. His story "The No-Guitar Blues" was made into a film,[2] and he produced another film based on his book "The Pool Party."[6] He is a prolific writer of children's books.[1]
About his workJoyce Carol Oates noted "Gary Soto's poems are fast, funny, heartening, and achingly believable, like Polaroid love letters, or snatches of music heard out of a passing car; patches of beauty like patches of sunlight; the very pulse of a life."[7]
Soto's first collection of poems,The Elements of San Joaquin, won the United States Award of theInternational Poetry Forum in 1976 prior to its publication in thePitt Poetry Series in 1977. TheNew York Times Book Review also honored the book by reprinting six of the poems. In 1985, his memoirLiving Up the Street received theBefore Columbus Foundation'sAmerican Book Award.
In 1993, Soto received theAndrew Carnegie Medal for Film Excellence from theAssociation for Library Service to Children for his production work on the filmThe Pool Party.[6] In 1999, Soto received theHispanic Heritage Award for Literature,[8] the Author-Illustrator Civil Rights Award from theNational Education Association, and thePEN Center West Book Award forPetty Crimes.[6]
Other honors include the "Discovery"/The Nation Prize, theBess Hokin Prize and theLevinson Award fromPoetry.[6] He has received The California Library Association'sJohn and Patricia Beatty Award (twice), a Recognition of Merit from theClaremont Graduate School forBaseball in April, the Silver Medal from theCommonwealth Club of California, and theTomás Rivera Prize.
The library at Winchell Elementary School in Fresno was named after Soto.[2]
In 2011, the Old Administration Building at Fresno City College became the permanent home of the Gary Soto Literary Museum.[9]
In 2014, Soto received thePhoenix Award for his 1994 children's bookJesse. The award committee stated: "Jesse is both a coming-of-age story of one Mexican-American boy with a poetic sensibility and the story of a community and a country at a difficult time—facing poverty and prejudice and war, problems we are still facing today.Jesse offers an unembellished slice of life in Vietnam-eraFresno, California."[10]
Beginning in 1995 withChato's Kitchen (Chato y su cena),[11] Soto released a series of children's picture books in Spanish and English about a real, cool cat (gato), a low rider from thebarrio ofEast Los Angeles. They were illustrated by Susan Guevara, and the second oneChato and the Party Animals (Chato y los amigos pachangueros.) (2000) won thePura Belpre Medal for best illustration in 2002.[12] The series continued withChato Goes Cruisin' (2004)[13] andChato's Day of Dead (2006).
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)OCLC 8589531,655452420,610178960 (print and on-line)
