By
Hillary Davis
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Chicano writer interacts with students, gives reading of
Rudolfo Anaya's turquoise bolo tie stood out against his maroon shirt like a cactus sprouting from the parched desert of his hometown of Albuquerque, N.M., - or of the Tucson landscape, specifically the UA campus, that the acclaimed author visited yesterday.
Anaya's visit, which was a part of Hispanic Heritage Month activities, included a luncheon and reception with the University of Arizona Office of Chicano/Hispanic Student Affairs and a reading of his murder-mystery writing in the evening.
Anaya, who has written such novels as "Bless Me, òltima" and "Albuquerque," also writes poetry, essays, plays and most recently, children's literature and murder mystery novels.
After making a career of writing literary criticisms and spiritually-themed, Southwest-set novels, Anaya said his transition into genre writing does not herald a decline in writing quality - writing in genres such as mystery or romance is important for expressing culture, he said.
At the luncheon, which drew about 30 students, Anaya fielded questions about his experiences as a writer.
The undertaking of a novel is time-consuming work, filled with re-writing, Anaya said.
"To jump into a novel is a big commitment," he said. "I have to be writing for two or three years."
Although Anaya said he considers "Bless Me, òltima" important and his most popular book, he added that the novel is not his favorite because he cannot single out any work as his best.
Anaya compared picking a favorite work to a parent picking a favorite child - an act that would cause resentment among siblings.
"I don't want to make any other books mad," he joked.
Anaya also stressed perseverance for any aspiring writer.
While shopping "Bless Me, òltima" to publishers in the early 1970s, Anaya said his Chicano-themed story - concerning a young Hispanic boy and a curandera, or folk healer, in 1940s New Mexico -was rejected by major East Coast publishers. The manuscript was eventually picked up by a small publisher in Berkeley, Calif.
Now, Anaya said, the challenges in getting his culturally-flavored stories published are not as great.
Still, not all editors are impressed by his writing.
"It's still hard - I just got a manuscript rejected," he said. "You have to keep moving on. Nothing's easy."
"An Elegy on the Death of CŽsar Chavez," Anaya's book centered around farm worker activist CŽsar Chavez, was released this month. The book features a poem Anaya wrote eulogizing Chavez after his death in 1993 and an essay detailing Chavez's triumphs and how he affected Anaya.
In addition to his stop on campus, an exhibit highlighting Anaya's literary contributions is on display at the UA Main Library until Oct. 31.
