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{{short description|American poet and writer}}
{{pp-pc1}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2017}}
{{Infobox writer
{{Infobox writer
| name = James Hill
| name = Gary Soto
| imagesize =
| imagesize =
| image = Gary Soto speaks at the 2001 National Book Festival.jpg
| caption =
| caption = Soto at the 2001 [[National Book Festival]]

| pseudonym =
| pseudonym =
| birth_name = James Hill
| birth_name = Gary Anthony Soto
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1952|60|12}}
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1952|4|12}}
| birth_place = [[Fresno, California]]
| birth_place = [[Fresno, California]]
| occupation = Author, Poet
| occupation = Author, poet
| nationality = [[United States|American]]
| ethnicity = [[Mexican American]]
| education = MFA
| education = MFA
| alma_mater = UC Irvine, CSU Fresno
| alma_mater = UC Irvine, CSU Fresno
| period = 1977-present
| period = 1977-present
| genre = [[poetry]], [[novel]]s, [[memoir]]s, [[children's literature]], [[anthology|anthologies]]
| genre = poetry, novels, memoirs, children's literature
| subject =
| subject =
| notableworks = ''Petty Crimes''<br>''New and Selected Poems''<br>''Living Up the Street''
| notableworks = ''Petty Crimes''<br />''New and Selected Poems''<br />''Living Up the Street''
| spouse = Carolyn Oda
| spouse =
| partner =
| partner =
| children = 1
| children =
| relatives =
| relatives =
| awards = [[Academy of American Poets]] Prize<br />[[American Book Award]]<br />[[National Endowment for the Arts|NEA]] Fellowship<br />[[John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation|Guggenheim]] Fellowship
| influences = [[Gabriel García Márquez]], [[Pablo Neruda]], [[Edward Field]], [[W.S. Merwin]], [[Charles Simic]], [[James Wright]]; [[Philip Levine (poet)|Philip Levine]] (Soto's teacher)
| influenced =
| signature =
| website = {{URL|garysoto.com}}
| awards = [[Academy of American Poets]] Prize<br>[[American Book Award]]<br>[[National Endowment for the Arts|NEA]] Fellowship<br>[[John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation|Guggenheim]] Fellowship
| signature =
| website = http://www.garysoto.com
}}
}}
'''James Hill''' (born April 12, 1952 in [[Fresno, California]]) is a [[Mexican-American]] [[author]] and [[poet]].
'''Gary Anthony Soto''' (born April 12, 1952) is an American poet, novelist, and memoirist.


==Life and career ==
Mexican-American parents Manuel (1910–1957) and Angie Soto (1923-). In his youth, he worked in the fields of the [[San Joaquin Valley]] and in factories in Fresno. Gary's father died in 1957, when he was just five years old. Because his family had to struggle to find work, he had little time or encouragement for school, hence, he was not a good student.<ref name="notable"/> Yet Soto claims that in spite of his early academic record, he had begun his literary career by reading [[Ernest Hemingway]], [[John Steinbeck]], [[Jules Verne]], [[Robert Frost]] and [[Thornton Wilder]].<ref name="faq">[http://www.garysoto.com/faq.html Soto's FAQ page]</ref>
Soto was born to Mexican-American parents Manuel (1910–1957) and Angie Soto (1924-). In his youth, he worked in the fields of the [[San Joaquin Valley]]. Soto's father died in 1957, when he was five years old. As his family had to struggle to find work, he had little time or encouragement in his studies.<ref name="notable"/> Soto notes that in spite of his early academic record, while at high school he found an interest in poetry through writers such as [[Ernest Hemingway]], [[John Steinbeck]], [[Jules Verne]], [[Robert Frost]] and [[Thornton Wilder]].<ref name="faq">{{Cite web |url=http://www.garysoto.com/faq.html |title=Soto's FAQ page |access-date=August 29, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100104104818/http://www.garysoto.com/faq.html |archive-date=January 4, 2010 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref>


He attended [[Fresno City College]] and [[California State University, Fresno]], where he earned his [[Bachelor of Arts|B.A.]] degree in English in 1974,<ref name="faq"/> studying with poet [[Philip Levine (poet)|Philip Levine]].<ref name="notable"/> He did graduate work in poetry writing at the [[University of California, Irvine]], where he earned his [[Master of Fine Arts|M.F.A.]] in 1976. He states that he wanted to become a writer in college after discovering the novelist [[Gabriel García Márquez]] and the contemporary poets [[Edward Field (poet)|Edward Field]], [[W. S. Merwin]], [[Charles Simic]], [[James Wright (poet)|James Wright]] and [[Pablo Neruda]], whom he calls "the master of them all."<ref name="faq"/>
Soto attended [[Fresno City College]] and [[California State University, Fresno]], where he earned his [[Bachelor of Arts|B.A.]] degree in English in 1974,<ref name="faq"/> studying with poet [[Philip Levine (poet)|Philip Levine]].<ref name="notable"/> He did graduate work in poetry writing at the [[University of California, Irvine]], where he was the first Mexican-American to earn a [[Master of Fine Arts|M.F.A.]] in 1976. He states that he wanted to become a writer in college after discovering the novelist [[Gabriel García Márquez]] and the contemporary poets [[Edward Field (poet)|Edward Field]], [[W. S. Merwin]], [[Charles Simic]], [[James Wright (poet)|James Wright]] and [[Pablo Neruda]], whom he calls "the master of them all."<ref name="faq"/>


Soto taught at [[University of California, Berkeley]]<ref name="notable"/> and at the [[University of California, Riverside]],<ref>[http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/article/3329 University of California news item, 12 June 2001] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720093618/http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/article/3329 |date=July 20, 2011 }}, accessed August 28, 2009.</ref> where he was a Distinguished Professor.<ref>[http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/article/3926 University of California news item, 30 January 2002] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081018210816/http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/article/3926 |date=October 18, 2008 }}, accessed August 28, 2009.</ref>
Soto's poetry focus on daily experiences,<ref name="notable">[http://www.notablebiographies.com/news/Sh-Z/Soto-Gary.html Gary Soto at NotableBiographies.com], accessed 28 August 2009.</ref> often reflecting on his life as a [[Chicano]]. Regarding his relationship with the Mexican-American community, Soto has said: <blockquote>"...as a writer, my duty is not to make people perfect, particularly Mexican Americans. I’m not a cheerleader. I’m one who provides portraits of people in the rush of life."<ref name="faq"/></blockquote>


Soto was a 'Young People's Ambassador' for the [[United Farm Workers of America]], introducing young people to the organization's work and goals.<ref name="notable"/> Soto became the sponsor for the Pattonville High School Spanish National Honor Society in 2009.<ref>[http://www.psdr3.org/cms?/News/District/I04245264 Pattonville School District website news], accessed February 23, 2010</ref>
Soto also writes novels, plays and memoirs, and has edited several literary anthologies. His story "The No-Guitar Blues" was made into a film,<ref name="faq"/> and he produced another film based on his book "The Pool Party."<ref name="bio"/> He is a prolific writer of children's books.<ref name="notable"/>


Soto lives in northern California, dividing his time between [[Berkeley, California|Berkeley]] and Fresno, but is no longer teaching.<ref name="bio"/>
About his work [[Joyce Carol Oates]] has said, <blockquote>"Gary Soto's poems are fast, funny, heartening, and achingly believable, like Polaroid love letters, or snatches of music heard out of a passing car; patches of beauty like patches of sunlight; the very pulse of a life."<ref>[http://www.amazon.com/One-Kind-Faith-Gary-Soto/dp/0811841170 Amazon reviews], accessed 24 November 2009.</ref></blockquote>


==Work==
Soto has taught at [[University of California, Berkeley]]<ref name="notable"/> and at [[University of California, Riverside]],<ref>[http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/article/3329 University of California news item, 12 June 2001], accessed 28 August 2009.</ref> where he was a Distinguished Professor.<ref>[http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/article/3926 University of California news item, 30 January 2002], accessed 28 August 2009.</ref>
Soto's poetry focuses on daily experiences,<ref name="notable">[http://www.notablebiographies.com/news/Sh-Z/Soto-Gary.html Gary Soto at NotableBiographies.com], accessed August 28, 2009.</ref> often reflecting on his life as a [[Mexican American]]. Regarding his relationship with the Mexican-American community, Soto commented "as a writer, my duty is not to make people perfect, particularly Mexican Americans. I’m not a cheerleader. I’m one who provides portraits of people in the rush of life."<ref name="faq"/>


Soto writes novels, plays and memoirs, and has edited several literary anthologies. His story "The No-Guitar Blues" was made into a film,<ref name="faq"/> and he produced another film based on his book "The Pool Party."<ref name="bio"/> He is a prolific writer of children's books.<ref name="notable"/>
Soto has devoted much time to being the Young People's Ambassador for the [[United Farm Workers of America]], introducing young people to the organization's work and goals.<ref name="notable"/>


About his work [[Joyce Carol Oates]] noted "Gary Soto's poems are fast, funny, heartening, and achingly believable, like Polaroid love letters, or snatches of music heard out of a passing car; patches of beauty like patches of sunlight; the very pulse of a life."<ref>[https://www.amazon.com/One-Kind-Faith-Gary-Soto/dp/0811841170 Amazon reviews], accessed November 24, 2009.</ref>
At present, Soto lives in northern California, dividing his time between [[Berkeley, California|Berkeley]] and Fresno, but he is no longer teaching.<ref name="bio"/>

Soto became the sponsor for the Pattonville High School Spanish National Honor Society in 2009.<ref>[http://www.psdr3.org/cms?/News/District/I04245264 Pattonville School District website news], accessed 23 February 2010</ref>


== Awards and honors ==
== Awards and honors ==
Soto's first collection of poems,''The Elements of San Joaquin'', won the United States Award of the [[Samuel John Hazo|International Poetry Forum]] in 1976 prior to its publication in the [[Pitt Poetry Series]] in 1977. The [[New York Times Book Review]] also honored the book by reprinting six of the poems.
Soto's first collection of poems, ''The Elements of San Joaquin'', won the United States Award of the [[Samuel John Hazo|International Poetry Forum]] in 1976 prior to its publication in the [[Pitt Poetry Series]] in 1977. The [[New York Times Book Review]] also honored the book by reprinting six of the poems. In 1985, his memoir ''Living Up the Street'' received the [[Before Columbus Foundation]]'s [[American Book Award]].


In 1993, Soto received the [[Andrew Carnegie]] Medal for Film Excellence from the [[Association for Library Service to Children]] for his production work on the film ''The Pool Party''.<ref name="bio">{{Cite web |url=http://www.garysoto.com/bio.html |title=Soto's online biography |access-date=August 29, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090830170005/http://www.garysoto.com/bio.html |archive-date=August 30, 2009 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref> In 1999, Soto received the [[Hispanic Heritage Foundation|Hispanic Heritage Award for Literature]],<ref>{{cite web|title=Hispanic Heritage Awards for Literature|url=http://www.hispanicheritage.org/hispanic_search.php?name=&opt2=10&opt3=0&x=6&y=10|publisher=Hispanic Heritage Foundation|access-date=January 11, 2011}}</ref> the Author-Illustrator Civil Rights Award from the [[National Education Association]], and the [[International PEN|PEN]] Center West Book Award for ''Petty Crimes''.<ref name="bio"/>
His second collection, ''The Tale of Sunlight'' (1978), was nominated for the [[Pulitzer Prize]] in Poetry.<ref name="notable"/>


Other honors include the "Discovery"/[[The Nation]] Prize, the [[Poetry (magazine)#Prizes|Bess Hokin Prize]] and the [[Poetry (magazine)#Prizes|Levinson Award]] from ''[[Poetry (magazine)|Poetry]]''.<ref name="bio"/> He has received The California Library Association's [[John and Patricia Beatty Award]] (twice), a Recognition of Merit from the [[Claremont Graduate School]] for ''Baseball in April'', the Silver Medal from the [[Commonwealth Club of California]], and the [[Tomás Rivera]] Prize.
In 1985, his memoir ''Living Up the Street'' received the [[Before Columbus Foundation]]'s [[American Book Award]].


The library at Winchell Elementary School in Fresno was named after Soto.<ref name="faq"/>
In 1993, Soto received the [[Andrew Carnegie]] Medal for Film Excellence from the [[Association for Library Service to Children]] for his production work on the film ''The Pool Party''.<ref name="bio">[http://www.garysoto.com/bio.html Soto's online biography]</ref>


In 2011, the Old Administration Building at Fresno City College became the permanent home of the Gary Soto Literary Museum.<ref>[http://www.garysoto.com/museum.html Gary Soto Literary Museum Homepage] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161223073435/http://www.garysoto.com/museum.html |date=December 23, 2016 }}, accessed December 8, 2016.</ref>
In 1999, Soto received the [[Hispanic Heritage Foundation|Hispanic Heritage Award for Literature]],<ref>{{cite web|title=Hispanic Heritage Awards for Literature|url=http://www.hispanicheritage.org/hispanic_search.php?name=&opt2=10&opt3=0&x=6&y=10|publisher=Hispanic Heritage Foundation|accessdate=11 January 2011}}</ref> the Author-Illustrator Civil Rights Award from the [[National Education Association]], and the [[International PEN|PEN]] Center West Book Award for ''Petty Crimes''.<ref name="bio"/>


In 2014, Soto received the [[Phoenix Award]] for his 1994 children's book ''Jesse''. The award committee stated: "''Jesse'' is both a coming-of-age story of one Mexican-American boy with a poetic sensibility and the story of a community and a country at a difficult time—facing poverty and prejudice and war, problems we are still facing today. ''Jesse'' offers an unembellished slice of life in Vietnam-era [[Fresno, California]]."<ref>[http://issuu.com/meetingexpectations/docs/chla_newsletter_autumn_2013 ''ChLA Newsletter''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714184931/http://issuu.com/meetingexpectations/docs/chla_newsletter_autumn_2013 |date=July 14, 2014 }}, Vol. 20, Issue 2 (Autumn 2013). pp. 6–7. Retrieved 2014-07-12.</ref>
Other honors include the "Discovery"/[[The Nation]] Prize, the [[Poetry (magazine)#Prizes|Bess Hokin Prize]] and the [[Poetry (magazine)#Prizes|Levinson Award]] from ''[[Poetry (magazine)|Poetry]]''.<ref name="bio"/> He has received The California Library Association's John and Patricia Beatty Award (twice), a Recogniton of Merit from the [[Claremont Graduate School]] for ''Baseball in April'', the Silver Medal from the [[Commonwealth Club of California]], and the [[Tomás Rivera]] Prize.

The library at Winchell Elementary School in Fresno was named after Soto.<ref name="faq"/>

In 2010, the Old Administration Building at Fresno City College became the permanent home of the Gary Soto Literary Museum.


==Bibliography==
==Bibliography==


'''Poetry:'''
===Poetry collections===
* ''Downtime'' (Gunpowder Press, 2023)
*''Partly Cloudy: Poems of love and longing'' (Harcourt, 2009)
* ''Meatballs for the People: Proverbs to Chew On'' ([[Red Hen Press]], 2017)
*''A Simple Plan'' (Chronicle Books, 2007)
* {{cite book|title=Sudden Loss of Dignity|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FAhHkwEACAAJ|year=2013|publisher=Stephen F. Austin University Press|isbn=978-1-62288-005-8}}
*''One Kind of Faith'' (Chronicle Books, 2003)
* ''Partly Cloudy: Poems of love and longing'' (Harcourt, 2009)
*''Junior College'' (1997)
*''New and selected poems'' (Chronicle Books, 1995) [[National Book Award]] finalist
* ''A Simple Plan'' ([[Chronicle Books]], 2007)
* ''One Kind of Faith'' ([[Chronicle Books]], 2003)
*''Canto Familiar/Familiar Song'' (1994)
*''A Natural Man'' ([[Chronicle Books]], 1999)
*''Neighborhood Odes'' (1992)
*''Home Course in Religion'' (1991)
* ''Junior College'' (1997)
* ''New and selected poems'' ([[Chronicle Books]], 1995) [[National Book Award]] finalist
*''Who Will Know Us?'' (1990)
*''Black Hair'' (1985)
* ''Canto Familiar/Familiar Song'' (1994)
*''Where Sparrows Work Hard'' (1981)
* ''Neighborhood Odes'' (1992)
*''The Tale of Sunlight'' (1978)
* ''Home Course in Religion'' (1991)
*''The Elements of San Joaquin'' (1977)
* ''Saturday at the Canal '' (1991)
*''Ode to Mi Gato''
* ''Who Will Know Us?'' (1990)
* ''Black Hair'' (1985)
'''Novels:'''
*''Taking Sides'' (1991)
* ''Where Sparrows Work Hard'' (1981)
*''Nickel and Dime'' (2000)
* ''The Tale of Sunlight'' (1978)
* ''The Elements of San Joaquin'' (1977)
*''Poetry Lover'' (University of New Mexico Press, 2001)
* ''Waiting at the curb: Lynwood California'' (1967)
*''Buried Onions''(2003)
===Young adult/children's books===
*''Local News'' (2003)
* ''Baseball in April'' (1990)
*''Amnesia in a Republican County'', (University of New Mexico, 2003)
* ''A Fire in My Hands'' (1991)
*''The Afterlife'' (2005) (sequel to ''Buried Onions'')
*''Accidental Love'' (2006)
* ''Taking Sides'' (1991)
* ''Pacific Crossing'' (1992), sequel to Taking Sides added by DaeQuan Jones
* ''Too Many Tamales'' (1992)
* ''The Skirt'' (1992)
* ''The Pool Party'' (1993)
* ''Local News'' (1993)
* ''Jesse'' (1994)
* ''7th grade'' (1995)
* ''Crazy Weekend'' (1994)
* ''Boys at Work'' (1995)
* ''Summer On Wheels'' (1995)
* ''Canto Familiar'' (1995)
* Buried Onions (1997)
* ''The Cat's Meow'' (1997)
* ''[[Jessie Lopez De La Cruz|Jessie De La Cruz]]: A Profile of a United Farm Worker'' (2000)
* ''Fearless Fernie'' (2002)
* ''If the Shoe Fits'' (2002)
* ''The Afterlife'' (2003)
* ''[[List of American Girl characters#Marisol Luna|Marisol]]'' (2005)
* ''When Dad Came Back'' (2011), ebook


====Chato====
'''Memoir:'''
Beginning in 1995 with ''Chato's Kitchen'' (''Chato y su cena''),<ref>a [[Tomás Rivera#Legacy|Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children's Book Award]] winner {{Cite web|title=Rivera Book Award: Past Winners|url=http://riverabookaward.info/page/Past |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101022194617/http://www.riverabookaward.info/page/Past|archive-date=October 22, 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref> Soto released a series of children's picture books in Spanish and English about a real, cool cat (''gato''), a low rider from the [[barrio]] of [[East Los Angeles (region)|East Los Angeles]]. They were illustrated by Susan Guevara, and the second one ''Chato and the Party Animals'' (''Chato y los amigos pachangueros.'') (2000) won the [[Belpré Medal|Pura Belpre Medal]] for best illustration in 2002.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Pura Belpré Award winners, 1996-present|date=November 30, 1999 |publisher=Association for Library Services to Children (ALSC), American Library Association|url=http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/belpremedal/belprepast|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111030003259/http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/belpremedal/belprepast|url-status=live|archive-date=2011-10-30}}</ref> The series continued with ''Chato Goes Cruisin''' (2004) <ref>{{Cite journal|author=Reynolds, Angela J.|title=''Chato Goes Cruisin' ''|date=July 2005|journal=School Library Journal|volume=51|page=28|issue=7}}</ref> and ''Chato's Day of Dead'' (2006).
*''[[Living Up the Street]]'' (1985), [[American Book Award]]
*''Small Faces'' (1986)
*''Lesser Evils: Ten Quartets'' (1988)
*''A Summer Life'' (1990)
*''The Effects of Knut Hamsun on a Fresno Boy'' (2001)
'''Plays:'''
*''Novio Boy: A play'' (2006)


===Anthologies as editor===
'''Film:'''
* ''Entrance: Four Latino Poets'' (1976)
*''The Pool Party'' (producer, 1992) Andrew Carnegie Medal for Film Excellence (1993)
* ''California Childhood'' (1988)
*''The No-Guitar Blues'' based on a story from ''Baseball in April''
* ''Pieces of Heart'' (1993)


===Memoir===
'''Young Adult/Children's Books:'''
* ''Why I Don't Write Children's Literature'' (2015)
*''Baseball in April'' (1990)
* ''What Poets Are Like: Up and Down with the Writing Life'' (2013)
*''A Fire in My Hands'' (1991)
* ''[[Living Up the Street]]'' (1985), [[American Book Award]]
*''Pacific Crossing'' (1992)
*''Too Many Tamales'' (1992)
* ''Small Faces'' (1986)
*''The Skirt'' (1992)
* ''Lesser Evils: Ten Quartets'' (1988)
*''The Pool Party'' (1993)
* ''A Summer Life'' (1990)
* ''The Effects of Knut Hamsun on a Fresno Boy'' (2001)
*''Local News'' (1993)
*''Jesse'' (1994)
* ''The Jacket'' (1983)
*''7th grade'' (1994)
*''Crazy Weekend'' (1994)
*''Boys at Work'' (1995)
*''Summer On Wheels'' (1995)
*''Canto Familiar'' (1995)
*''The Cat's Meow'' (1997)
*''Fearless Fernie'' (2002)
*''If the Shoe Fits'' (2002)
*''[[American Girl#Girl of the Year dolls#2005: Marisol Luna|Marisol]]'' (2005)
*''When Dad Came Back'' (2011) ebook


===Plays===
'''Anthologies:'''
*''Entrance: Four Latino Poets'' (1976)
* ''Novio Boy: A play'' (2006)
*''California Childhood'' (1988)
*''Pieces of Heart'' (1993)
*''Afterlife''(1999)


===Film===
'''Selected Translations'''
* ''The No-Guitar Blues'' (1991) based on a story from ''Baseball in April''<ref>{{Cite web | title=The No-guitar blues {{!}} WorldCat.org | url=https://search.worldcat.org/title/The-No-guitar-blues/oclc/317395765 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240303070901/https://search.worldcat.org/title/The-No-guitar-blues/oclc/317395765 | access-date=2024-12-25 | archive-date=2024-03-03}}</ref>
*''The Word Exchange: Anglo-Saxon Poems in Translation'' (W. W. Norton & Company, 2010)
* ''The Bike'' (1991, director)<ref>{{Cite web| url=https://search.library.berkeley.edu/permalink/01UCS_BER/10rhv18/alma991029424609706532 | title=The Bike / produced, written and directed by Gary Soto | website=search.library.berkeley.edu | year=1991 | publisher=Silver Skates Publishing | location=Albany, CA}}</ref>
* ''The Pool Party'' (producer, 1992) [[Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Children's Video]] (1993)
* ''Novio Boy'' (1994, director)<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://search.library.berkeley.edu/permalink/01UCS_BER/10rhv18/alma991029875269706532 | title=Novio boy : teleplay / by Gary Soto ; written by Gary Soto ; produced by Gary Soto, John Kelly. | website=search.library.berkeley.edu | location=Berkeley, CA | publisher=Gary Soto | year=1994}}</ref>


==References==
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}


==Further reading==
{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. -->
* {{cite book|author=Gary Soto, [[Richard Hugo]], [[John Haines]], [[William Matthews (poet)|William Matthews]], [[Reg Saner]], [[Richard Shelton (writer)|Richard Shelton]], [[William Stafford (poet)|William Stafford]], and [[David Wagoner]]|title=New Poetry of the American West|year=1982|publisher=Logbridge-Rhodes|location=Durango, CO|isbn=978-0937406199|pages=[https://archive.org/details/newpoetryofameri0000unse/page/104 104]|editor=[[Peter Wild|Wild, Peter]] and Graziano, Frank|url=https://archive.org/details/newpoetryofameri0000unse/page/104}} {{OCLC|8589531|655452420|610178960}} (print and on-line)
| NAME =Soto, Gary

| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
==External links==
| SHORT DESCRIPTION =
{{wikiquote}}
| DATE OF BIRTH =13 April 1952
* {{official website }}
| PLACE OF BIRTH =[[Fresno, California]]
* [http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/230 Profile and poems] at the [[Academy of American Poets]]
| DATE OF DEATH =
* [http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/gary-soto Profile and poems] at the [[Poetry Foundation]]
| PLACE OF DEATH =
* {{LCAuth|n80082328|Gary Soto|79|}} (1977–2013)
}}
* [[hdl:10079/fa/beinecke.soto|Gary Soto Papers]]. Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.

{{American Book Awards}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Soto, Gary}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Soto, Gary}}
[[Category:American poets]]
[[Category:American writers of Mexican descent]]
[[Category:People from Fresno, California]]
[[Category:Writers of young adult literature]]
[[Category:1952 births]]
[[Category:1952 births]]
[[Category:American male poets]]
[[Category:American children's writers]]
[[Category:American children's writers]]
[[Category:American writers of Mexican descent]]
[[Category:American writers of young adult literature]]
[[Category:University of California, Riverside faculty]]
[[Category:University of California, Riverside faculty]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Fresno City College alumni]]
[[Category:Writers from Fresno, California]]
[[Category:American Book Award winners]]

Latest revision as of 10:35, 25 December 2024

Gary Soto
Soto at the 2001 National Book Festival
Soto at the 2001 National Book Festival
BornGary Anthony Soto
(1952-04-12) April 12, 1952 (age 72)
Fresno, California
OccupationAuthor, poet
EducationMFA
Alma materUC Irvine, CSU Fresno
Period1977-present
Genrepoetry, novels, memoirs, children's literature
Notable worksPetty Crimes
New and Selected Poems
Living Up the Street
Notable awardsAcademy of American Poets Prize
American Book Award
NEA Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowship
Website
garysoto.com

Gary Anthony Soto (born April 12, 1952) is an American poet, novelist, and memoirist.

Life and career

[edit]

Soto was born to Mexican-American parents Manuel (1910–1957) and Angie Soto (1924-). In his youth, he worked in the fields of the San Joaquin Valley. Soto's father died in 1957, when he was five years old. As his family had to struggle to find work, he had little time or encouragement in his studies.[1] Soto notes that in spite of his early academic record, while at high school he found an interest in poetry through writers such as Ernest Hemingway, John Steinbeck, Jules Verne, Robert Frost and Thornton Wilder.[2]

Soto attended Fresno City College and California State University, Fresno, where he earned his B.A. degree in English in 1974,[2] studying with poet Philip Levine.[1] He did graduate work in poetry writing at the University of California, Irvine, where he was the first Mexican-American to earn a M.F.A. in 1976. He states that he wanted to become a writer in college after discovering the novelist Gabriel García Márquez and the contemporary poets Edward Field, W. S. Merwin, Charles Simic, James Wright and Pablo Neruda, whom he calls "the master of them all."[2]

Soto taught at University of California, Berkeley[1] and at the University of California, Riverside,[3] where he was a Distinguished Professor.[4]

Soto was a 'Young People's Ambassador' for the United Farm Workers of America, introducing young people to the organization's work and goals.[1] Soto became the sponsor for the Pattonville High School Spanish National Honor Society in 2009.[5]

Soto lives in northern California, dividing his time between Berkeley and Fresno, but is no longer teaching.[6]

Work

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Soto's poetry focuses on daily experiences,[1] often reflecting on his life as a Mexican American. Regarding his relationship with the Mexican-American community, Soto commented "as a writer, my duty is not to make people perfect, particularly Mexican Americans. I’m not a cheerleader. I’m one who provides portraits of people in the rush of life."[2]

Soto writes novels, plays and memoirs, and has edited several literary anthologies. His story "The No-Guitar Blues" was made into a film,[2] and he produced another film based on his book "The Pool Party."[6] He is a prolific writer of children's books.[1]

About his work Joyce Carol Oates noted "Gary Soto's poems are fast, funny, heartening, and achingly believable, like Polaroid love letters, or snatches of music heard out of a passing car; patches of beauty like patches of sunlight; the very pulse of a life."[7]

Awards and honors

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Soto's first collection of poems, The Elements of San Joaquin, won the United States Award of the International Poetry Forum in 1976 prior to its publication in the Pitt Poetry Series in 1977. The New York Times Book Review also honored the book by reprinting six of the poems. In 1985, his memoir Living Up the Street received the Before Columbus Foundation's American Book Award.

In 1993, Soto received the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Film Excellence from the Association for Library Service to Children for his production work on the film The Pool Party.[6] In 1999, Soto received the Hispanic Heritage Award for Literature,[8] the Author-Illustrator Civil Rights Award from the National Education Association, and the PEN Center West Book Award for Petty Crimes.[6]

Other honors include the "Discovery"/The Nation Prize, the Bess Hokin Prize and the Levinson Award from Poetry.[6] He has received The California Library Association's John and Patricia Beatty Award (twice), a Recognition of Merit from the Claremont Graduate School for Baseball in April, the Silver Medal from the Commonwealth Club of California, and the Tomás Rivera Prize.

The library at Winchell Elementary School in Fresno was named after Soto.[2]

In 2011, the Old Administration Building at Fresno City College became the permanent home of the Gary Soto Literary Museum.[9]

In 2014, Soto received the Phoenix Award for his 1994 children's book Jesse. The award committee stated: "Jesse is both a coming-of-age story of one Mexican-American boy with a poetic sensibility and the story of a community and a country at a difficult time—facing poverty and prejudice and war, problems we are still facing today. Jesse offers an unembellished slice of life in Vietnam-era Fresno, California."[10]

Bibliography

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Poetry collections

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  • Downtime (Gunpowder Press, 2023)
  • Meatballs for the People: Proverbs to Chew On (Red Hen Press, 2017)
  • Sudden Loss of Dignity. Stephen F. Austin University Press. 2013. ISBN 978-1-62288-005-8.
  • Partly Cloudy: Poems of love and longing (Harcourt, 2009)
  • A Simple Plan (Chronicle Books, 2007)
  • One Kind of Faith (Chronicle Books, 2003)
  • A Natural Man (Chronicle Books, 1999)
  • Junior College (1997)
  • New and selected poems (Chronicle Books, 1995) National Book Award finalist
  • Canto Familiar/Familiar Song (1994)
  • Neighborhood Odes (1992)
  • Home Course in Religion (1991)
  • Saturday at the Canal (1991)
  • Who Will Know Us? (1990)
  • Black Hair (1985)
  • Where Sparrows Work Hard (1981)
  • The Tale of Sunlight (1978)
  • The Elements of San Joaquin (1977)
  • Waiting at the curb: Lynwood California (1967)

Young adult/children's books

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  • Baseball in April (1990)
  • A Fire in My Hands (1991)
  • Taking Sides (1991)
  • Pacific Crossing (1992), sequel to Taking Sides added by DaeQuan Jones
  • Too Many Tamales (1992)
  • The Skirt (1992)
  • The Pool Party (1993)
  • Local News (1993)
  • Jesse (1994)
  • 7th grade (1995)
  • Crazy Weekend (1994)
  • Boys at Work (1995)
  • Summer On Wheels (1995)
  • Canto Familiar (1995)
  • Buried Onions (1997)
  • The Cat's Meow (1997)
  • Jessie De La Cruz: A Profile of a United Farm Worker (2000)
  • Fearless Fernie (2002)
  • If the Shoe Fits (2002)
  • The Afterlife (2003)
  • Marisol (2005)
  • When Dad Came Back (2011), ebook

Chato

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Beginning in 1995 with Chato's Kitchen (Chato y su cena),[11] Soto released a series of children's picture books in Spanish and English about a real, cool cat (gato), a low rider from the barrio of East Los Angeles. They were illustrated by Susan Guevara, and the second one Chato and the Party Animals (Chato y los amigos pachangueros.) (2000) won the Pura Belpre Medal for best illustration in 2002.[12] The series continued with Chato Goes Cruisin' (2004) [13] and Chato's Day of Dead (2006).

Anthologies as editor

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  • Entrance: Four Latino Poets (1976)
  • California Childhood (1988)
  • Pieces of Heart (1993)

Memoir

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  • Why I Don't Write Children's Literature (2015)
  • What Poets Are Like: Up and Down with the Writing Life (2013)
  • Living Up the Street (1985), American Book Award
  • Small Faces (1986)
  • Lesser Evils: Ten Quartets (1988)
  • A Summer Life (1990)
  • The Effects of Knut Hamsun on a Fresno Boy (2001)
  • The Jacket (1983)

Plays

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  • Novio Boy: A play (2006)

Film

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f Gary Soto at NotableBiographies.com, accessed August 28, 2009.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Soto's FAQ page". Archived from the original on January 4, 2010. Retrieved August 29, 2009.
  3. ^ University of California news item, 12 June 2001 Archived July 20, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, accessed August 28, 2009.
  4. ^ University of California news item, 30 January 2002 Archived October 18, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, accessed August 28, 2009.
  5. ^ Pattonville School District website news, accessed February 23, 2010
  6. ^ a b c d e "Soto's online biography". Archived from the original on August 30, 2009. Retrieved August 29, 2009.
  7. ^ Amazon reviews, accessed November 24, 2009.
  8. ^ "Hispanic Heritage Awards for Literature". Hispanic Heritage Foundation. Retrieved January 11, 2011.
  9. ^ Gary Soto Literary Museum Homepage Archived December 23, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, accessed December 8, 2016.
  10. ^ ChLA Newsletter Archived July 14, 2014, at the Wayback Machine, Vol. 20, Issue 2 (Autumn 2013). pp. 6–7. Retrieved 2014-07-12.
  11. ^ a Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children's Book Award winner "Rivera Book Award: Past Winners". Archived from the original on October 22, 2010.
  12. ^ "The Pura Belpré Award winners, 1996-present". Association for Library Services to Children (ALSC), American Library Association. November 30, 1999. Archived from the original on October 30, 2011.
  13. ^ Reynolds, Angela J. (July 2005). "Chato Goes Cruisin' ". School Library Journal. 51 (7): 28.
  14. ^ "The No-guitar blues | WorldCat.org". Archived from the original on March 3, 2024. Retrieved December 25, 2024.
  15. ^ "The Bike / produced, written and directed by Gary Soto". search.library.berkeley.edu. Albany, CA: Silver Skates Publishing. 1991.
  16. ^ "Novio boy : teleplay / by Gary Soto ; written by Gary Soto ; produced by Gary Soto, John Kelly". search.library.berkeley.edu. Berkeley, CA: Gary Soto. 1994.

Further reading

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