Gary Soto Contemporary Poet and Author

Biography §Born in Fresno, CA in §Born to a low-income family - lost father early. §Raised in the “barrio” within Mexican American culture. §Attended Fresno City College and Fresno State - started out interested in Geology changed to creative writing at Fresno State. §Became a poet/author/teacher. §Currently writing books and teaching at CAL Berkley.

Historical/Cultural Context §Teen/college years in the 1960’s. §Caesar Chavez and United Farm Workers protests in support of Mexican farm workers - Part of Civil Rights Era. §Writing based on personal experiences, growing up in central California as a Mexican-American of limited resources. §Still writing today.

Famous Works §Buried Onions §Too Many Tamales §Baseball in April and Other Stories §Off and Running §Neighborhood Odes §Living up the Street §Nerdlandia §Works range from adult/teen novels, to poetry and short story collections, to plays, to children’s books (picture books and chapter books).

Characteristics of Writing §Writing is largely autobiographical/based on personal experiences. §Deals with experience of growing up/living in California as a Mexican American. §Focuses on “relationships” - family, friendship, and romantic. §Frequent use of symbolism, imagery, and figurative language.

Connection to Postmodernism §Autobiography uses past fearlessly - Soto is very critical of self. §Characters are culturally diverse, outside of “mainstream” culture. §Reflects changing values within community and society. §Use of “magical realism.”

Mission Tire Factory, 1969 Gary Soto Read by the author Gary Soto All through lunch Peter pinched at his crotch, And Jesús talked about his tattoos, And I let the flies crawl my arm, undisturbed, Thinking it was wrong, a buck sixty five, The wash of rubber in our lungs, The oven we would enter, squinting ---because earlier in the day Manny fell From his machine, and when we carried him To the workshed (blood from Under his shirt, in his pants) All he could manage, in an ignorance Outdone only by pain, was to take three dollars From his wallet, and say: "Buy some sandwiches. You guys saved my life." From Where Sparrows Work Hard by Gary Soto, published by the University of Pittsburgh Press. Copyright © 1981 Gary Soto. Used with permission. Copyright © by The Academy of American Poets

Works Cited 1. Soto, Gary. Official Gary Soto Website. April Satucci, V. Gary Soto Teacher Resource File. April 2002.