Literary El Paso

Tom

174 Tomás Rivera Tomás Rivera (1935-1984) was a poet, writer, and educator who was born in Crystal City,Texas. Along with his parents, Rivera worked as a farm laborer in Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Michigan, and Minnesota. Although he continued to work in the fields each summer, Rivera attended Southwest Texas State University and received a B.A. in English. He went on to earn two graduate degrees, an M.Ed. from Southwest Texas State and a Ph.D. from the University of Oklahoma. After finishing his graduate studies, Rivera taught English and Spanish at high schools in San Antonio, League City, and Crystal City, Texas. He began his university career when he accepted a position as associate professor at Sam Houston State University, and he went on to serve as the director of foreign languages and the vice president for administration at the University of Texas at San Antonio. When he moved to El Paso, Rivera assumed the role of executive vice president of the University of Texas at El Paso. He was the chancellor of the University of California, Riverside, at the time of his death. Tomás Rivera’s experience as a migrant worker was the context of his novel Y no se lo tragó la tierra/ And the Earth Did Not Part, which won the first Quinto Sol Prize for literature in 1970 and is considered a milestone in Chicano literary history. The novel was published during the height of the Chicano labor struggles and the rise of the La Raza Unida party, and its themes resonated with those who were suffering injustice. Rivera is also the author of five short stories, a chapbook of thirteen poems, and The Searchers: Collected Poetry. An anthology of his work edited by Julián Olivares, Tomás Rivera: The Complete Works, was published in 1992. Rivera’s literary essays, including “Into the Labyrinth: the Chicano in Literature,” have been cited as important critical texts in the study of 1970s Chicano literature. In addition to his literary and scholarly achievements, Rivera also worked for a number of non-profit organizations. He served on the boards of both the Carnegie Institute and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and helped to establish the Tomás Rivera Policy Institute, which is now located at University of Southern California. Rivera was also appointed by presidents Carter and Reagan to serve on national higher education commissions. Rivera’s legacy continues at the educational facilities that have been named in his honor, including 175 the main library at UC Riverside, several public schools, and a conference center at the University of Texas at El Paso. A professorship at the University of Texas at Austin, as well as a Mexican American children’s book award, has also been created in remembrance of Tomás Rivera’s lasting impact on education and literature. From Tomás Rivera: The Complete Works: The Searchers Electronic rights not granted. 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 ...