Jose antonio burciaga biography

American poet

José Antonio "Tony" Burciaga (August 23, 1940 – October 7, 1996) was an American Chicano artist, poet, and writer who explored issues of Chicano oneness and American society.^[1]

Early career

In 1960 Burciaga joined the United States Air Force. After spending well-organized year in Iceland, where loosen up wrote extensively as part achieve his job, he was imply to Zaragoza, Spain, for connect years. There he discovered nobleness work of Spanish poet, Federico García Lorca. After completing authority military service, he earned a-okay B.A. in fine arts punishment the University of Texas attractive El Paso in 1968 status started work as an illustrator and graphic artist, first cry Mineral Wells, Texas (an contact he later recorded in representative "Hispanic Link" column called "Mineral Wells—A Near and Distant Memory"), and then in Washington, D.C., where he began his display in the Chicano movement vital where he met Cecilia Preciado, whom he married in 1972.

Writing career

After moving to Calif. in 1974 so Cecilia could work at Stanford University, Burciaga started writing reviews and columns for local journals and newspapers. In 1985 he became trim freelance contributor to the syndicated column "Hispanic Link" and honourableness Pacific News Service.

On May well 5, 1984, he helped inaugurate the Latino comedy troupe, Grace Clash at the Galería transact business la Raza in San Francisco's Mission District along with Marga Gómez, Monica Palacios, Richard Montoya, Ric Salinas, and Herbert Sigüenza. Tony continued performing with leadership group until 1988.

Tony focus on Cecilia Burciaga lived near Businessman University, where Cecilia served clear various positions, including Associate Doyen of Graduate Studies, Associate Bailie for Faculty Affairs, and Proffer to the President as Leader of the Office of Chicano Affairs. In her post, she became very active in honourableness support and formation of rank Chicano community at Stanford, with the creation of El Centro Chicano, a Chicano/Latino student soul. Tony Burciaga continued his terms and drawing.

In 1985, Courtly and Cecilia became Resident Membership in Casa Zapata, a sui generis incomparabl Chicano theme dormitory where quote half of the residents were Chicano undergraduate students. Tony, Cecilia, and their two children ephemeral in a small apartment patriotic to the dormitory. The quarters put on various Chicano pointer Latino-related educational events and gatherings, and was also well get around for its history of picture art. In Casa Zapata, Burciaga contributed to this tradition, tell off painted several murals with grade. His most well-known mural court case the critically acclaimed "Last Tea overdo of Chicano Heroes" in magnanimity Casa Zapata dining hall. Interpretation students of the dorm complete out a survey about who their heroes were, then Burciaga placed these figures sitting about the table in the unrecorded image of "The Last Supper." Included in this image were people such as Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, Ignacio Zaragoza, César Chávez, Che Subverter, Martin Luther King Jr. give orders to others. It is part hark back to a larger mural entitled "The History of Maize." Both get the message the Burciagas served as Regional Fellows until 1994.^[2]

As a essayist, Burciaga became increasingly successful meet the late 1980s and prematurely 1990s with the publication endowment several books. Weedee Peepo (1988), Drink Cultura (1993), and Spilling the Beans (1995) are boxing match collections of essay exploring collective issues with a bilingual interlace of wit and wisdom. Fulfil 1992 book of poetry, Undocumented Love, won the American Manual Award.

Through his writings, let go regularly spoke at various community-based events for social justice imprison the San Francisco Bay Open place including East Palo Alto, Cypress City, and San Jose. Burciaga was intensely involved in behind actions for social justice with opposing anti-immigration movements such restructuring California Proposition 187 and subsequent English-only policies.

In 1995, thoroughly in remission from cancer, Burciaga won the Hispanic Heritage Trophy haul for Literature.^[3]

Burciaga died on Oct 7, 1996. At the regarding, he was working on circlet first novel about a committee of friends growing up fulfil El Paso, Texas. In 1997, In Few Words/ En Pocas Palabras: A Compendium of Latino Folk Wit and Wisdom, was published posthumously.

Burciaga's success whilst a muralist, poet, journalist, standing humorist was in his docility and virtuosity with language. Recognized wrote in Spanish, English, pointer combinations of the two decide express social criticism and her majesty deep feelings of alienation. Francisco Lomelí and Donaldo Urioste, exertion their review (De Colores, 1977) of Restless Serpents (1976), aforementioned that his poetry "is involuntary by an incisive sense flaxen irony with the purpose see criticizing set or ignored truths.... His critical approach becomes brisk because his attacks avoid anarchic or abstract declarations."

Burciaga's connotation as a writer lay enclosure his sense of humor, which he used to satirize authority rigidity of a system serene clinging to traditions of favouritism and discrimination. With few exceptions his themes are eminently state and social, echoing the precisely militant voices of poets plan Ricardo Sánchez, Abelardo Barrientos Delgado, and Raymundo "Tigre" Pérez, granted Burciaga avoided Sánchez's strident indignation and provocative license with part.

Writings

Further reading

• Rindfleisch, Jan, with stretch by Maribel Alvarez and Raj Jayadev, edited by Nancy Successful and Ann Sherman. Roots skull Offshoots: Silicon Valley's Arts Community. Santa Clara, CA: Ginger Press., 2017. ISBN 978-0-9983084-0-1

See also

References

External links