Julia Alvarez Biography

Julia Alvarez Biography

By Sam Willsey

Her Roots and Origin• She was born on March 27, 1950

• While being born in New York, USA, she quickly moved with her family back to the Dominican

Republic.

• While there, her father was working in an under ground union that was attempting more than once

to overthrow the government under Rafael Trujillo

• When she was 10 years old she and her family escaped the Dominican Republic after a failed

attempt by her father.

(Susan Walker)

Scholarly Life

• She was very well educated• She attended many colleges:• CT College, Middlebury College, Syracuse,

and The Bread Loaf School of English• From Middlebury College she earned a degree

in bachelor of arts• Then from Syracuse she earned her MFA, back

in 1975

(Susan Walker)

Why a Writer?• “What made me into a writer was coming to this

country…all of a sudden losing a culture, a homeland, a language, a family…I wanted a portable homeland and that’s the imagination.” - Julia Alvarez

• “Not understanding the language, I had to pay close attention to each word--great training for a writer.” - Julia Alvarez

• She has a unique background to base her career on

(Susan Walker, Julia Alvarez)

Slow Start• Julia didn’t publish her first book until she

was 41 years old - “How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents” followed thereafter by:

• “In the Time of the Butterflies,” “¡YO!,” and “Once upon a Quincenera”

• When asked about her writing and how much she does daily, she replied;

“[I] didn’t get published until I was 41. But that doesn’t mean I wasn’t working on it. I was so busy with my teaching that I could only do my writing in the summers”

(Julia Alvarez-bio page)

Still Working• While waiting to be published, she had to make a

living through teaching

• She taught poetry in multiple schools including;

Kentucky, Delaware, and North Carolina

• She taught creative writing at Andover, the

University of Vermont, and the University of

Illinois

• Her writing has been published in many

newspapers and magazines.

(Susan Walker, Julia Alvarez Bio page)

Julia Today

• When asked if it was hard to quit her tenure position for writing she responded; “All my life I’ve been a teacher who writes on the side and now I’m a writer who teaches on the side.”

• Julia and her husband (Bill Eichner) live on a large farm in Vermont

• She is presently teaching at Middlebury college, giving up her tenure position for her writing, and is coming to visit the K-O school on December 6th, this winter. (Susan Walker, Julia Alvarez-about

me, Julia Alvarez bio page)

Work Cited• Walker, Susan . "Julia Alvarez." Julia Alvarez. 22 Sep.

1997. Used 27 Sep. 2009 www.English.Emory.edu/Bahri/Alvarez. Html

• Alvarez, Julia. "About Me: author Julia Alvarez." Julia Alvarez: official author website. 22 Sep. 2008. Used 27 Sep. 2009 http://www.juliaalvarez.com/about/

• “Julia Alvarez - Bio” 1996-2009 http://www.bookreporter.com/authors/au-alvarez-julia.asp