Research Guides: Julia Alvarez: Biography

Julia Alvarez (Born on March 27, 1950)

Alvarez and her sisters were educated in Catholic boarding schools. Alvarez attended Connecticut College initially. To keep the girls in touch with their culture, the parents sent them to spend their summers in the Dominican Republic. These stays made Alvarez aware of the double standard applied to the sexes and of the treatment of the poor, uneducated underclass. It was difficult for Alvarez to reconcile her American feminism with Dominican patriarchy, but it reinforced her decision to continue her college education. Winning the Benjamin T. Marshall Poetry Prize in 1968- 1969 further encouraged her to pursue a literary career. She transferred to Middlebury College, Vermont, and in 1971 earned her B.A. summa cum laude. She earned her M.F.A. in 1975 from Syracuse University. Continue . . .

Source: Kapai, Leela. “Julia Alvarez.” Critical Survey of American Literature, Dec. 2016, pp. 74–79. From Literary Reference Center Plus database.

Book Collection

Explaining the Bilingual and Bicultural Poetry and Narratives of Julia Alvarez

Julia Alvarez

Resources

Old Heroines A summary and analysis of Old Heroines.
Exile A summary and analysis of Exile.
Homeland, Poetry, and Justice: Julia Álvarez Engages Pedro Mir A criticism of the poem "There Are Two Countries" by Julia Álvarez, with focus on its connection to the poem "Hay un país en el mundo" (There is a Country in the World) by Pedro Mir, is presented. Details related to the poem's colonial and neocolonial themes, island imagery, and references to parsley are provided. The last two stanzas of the poem, its theme of social justice, and Mir's historical writing are also discussed.
Julia Alvarez Website Julia Alvarez website of her works and life.
Interview With Julia Alvarez, 2009 F. Scott Fitzgerald Award Honoree The F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary Committee and MCTV present an interview with Julia Alvarez, the 2009 F. Scott Fitzgerald Award Honoree. Ms. Alvarez is interviewed by Elizabeth M. Huergo, PhD., an English professor at Montgomery College in Rockville, Maryland. Ms. Alvarez discusses what inspired her to become a writer; her experiences as a young immigrant in the United States and many other interesting topics.
Atlantic Unbound: In the Name of the Homeland July 19, 2000 interview.
Literary Contexts in Novels: Julia Alvarez's "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents"
Julia Alvarez Talks About Writing Novelist, poet and Middlebury College professor Julia Alvarez stopped by the Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz Center in Washington Heights this past week to talk about her family, her life and writing. She spoke two large groups--to local school children and later to adults about the importance following your dreams and giving back to the community. In this short interview, she talks about how her family has influenced her work.
Reading the spirits in Julia Alvarez’s A Wedding in Haiti.
A Promise Kept: A Conversation With Julia Álvarez
"That Story about the Gun": Pseudo-Memory in Julia Alvarez's Autobiographical Novels

From Films On Demand database:

Fleeing the Dominican Republic In 1960, Julia Alvarez and her family were part of a huge Caribbean influx; her father had been part of the resistance. They tried to adapt to the U.S. while holding on to some of home. Distributed by PBS Distribution.
Integration Many immigrants had to find a way to bridge their old lives with new ones. Julia Alvarez went to boarding school. She began to write as a way to bring together the two parts of her world. Distributed by PBS Distribution.