Julia Alvarez

Marta Caminero-Santangelo (University of Kansas)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.4: American (US) Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary, 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Sofia Ahlberg (Uppsala University), Patrick Chura (University of Akron), Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), Dale Enggass (University of Utah), Christopher Hugh Gair (University of Glasgow), Matthew Hofer (University of New Mexico), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University), Kerry Myler (Birmingham Newman University), Justin Parks (UiT - The Arctic University of Norway), Nick Selby (University of East Anglia)

Dates

Born 27 Mar 1950
Activity 1968-ongoing

Places

Born in United States
Active in United States; Dominican Republic

Activities

Primary

Novelist
Poet
Story-writer

Resources

Alvarez's Works

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Julia Alvarez is one of the best-known contemporary Latina writers in the U.S. For some years, in a field dominated by Chicana (Mexican-American), Cuban-American, and continental Puerto Rican writers, she was the only prominent example of a Dominican-American writer of fiction. She thus paved the way for subsequent writers currently receiving critical attention such as Junot Díaz, Nelly Rosario, Angie Cruz, and Loida Maritza Pérez.

Julia Alvarez was born on March 27,1950, to Julia Tavares de Alvarez and Eduardo Alvarez Perello, Dominican parents who were briefly residing in New York City. She was the second oldest of four sisters. The family returned to the Dominican Republic shortly after Alvarez’s birth. Her mother’s family was a privileged one in the Dominican Republic; her

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3239 words

Citation: Caminero-Santangelo, Marta. "Julia Alvarez". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 15 January 2007 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=11760, accessed 23 November 2024.]