Encyclopedia Of Hispanic-american Literature (encyclopedia Of American Ethnic Literature)

Encyclopedia of Hispanic-American literature  Encyclopedia of Hispanic-American literature   Luz Elena Ramirez Encyclopedia of Hispanic-American Literature Copyright © 2008 by Luz Elena Ramirez All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher. For information contact: Facts On File, Inc. An imprint of Infobase Publishing 132 West 31st Street New York NY 10001 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Ramirez, Luz Elena. The Facts On File encyclopedia of Hispanic-American literature / Luz Elena Ramirez. — 1st ed.    p. cm. — (Encyclopedia of American ethnic literature)   Includes bibliographical references and index.   ISBN 978-0-8160-6084-9 (hc : alk. paper) 1. American literature—Hispanic-American authors—Encyclopedias. I. Facts on File, Inc. II. Title. III. Title: Encyclopedia of HispanicAmerican literature.   PS153.H56R36 2008   810.9’868073003—dc22 2007034805 Facts On File books are available at special discounts when purchased in bulk quantities for businesses, associations, institutions, or sales promotions. Please call our Special Sales Department in New York at (212) 967-8800 or (800) 322-8755. You can find Facts On File on the World Wide Web at http://www.factsonfile.com Text design by Rachel L. Berlin Cover design by Takeshi Takahashi Printed in the United States of America VB KT 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 This book is printed on acid-free paper and contains 30 percent postconsumer recycled content. This book is for my son, Ian Matthew Habich Ramirez, and for his father, Matthew Martin Habich.  Table of Contents  Acknowledgments ix Introduction xi Entries A to Z 1 Bibliography of General Secondary Sources 388 Bibliography of Major Works by Hispanic-American Writers 391 List of Contributors 406 Index 408 Acknowledgments  I am indebted to the contributors to this volume, who submitted entries, provided feedback, and created a dynamic and productive climate for writing about Latino literature. In editing this encyclopedia, I thank for his expertise and direction Executive Editor Jeff Soloway of Facts On File. In addition, I would like to thank the copy editor, Katy Barnhart, who was thorough and thoughtful in her work. Entries were subject to peer review and, once in manuscript form, the encyclopedia was read afresh by the following contributors: Ritch Calvin, Kevin Cole, Ethriam Cash Brammer de Gonzales, Yolanda Martinez, Rolando Perez, and Betsy A. Sandlin. I am also grateful for the support of colleagues and administrators at California State University, San Bernardino, especially for the sabbatical in 2007 that allowed me to complete the project. Finally, I would like to thank Matthew Habich for his support and his daughter Kate Habich for ensuring the completeness of the manuscript. ix Introduction  Cubans (3.7 percent), and “Other” Hispanic groups (including Dominicans, 6.5 percent). As a whole, Hispanics live mostly in the West (44 percent) and the South (34.8 percent), with notable populations in the Northeast (13.3 percent) and Midwest (7.7 percent) (Census 2002). Because Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, Cuban Americans, and Dominican Americans make up the primary populations of Hispanic-Americans in the United States, it is not surprising that this encyclopedia focuses on writers from these communities. The literary world has taken note, however, of an increasing number of Latin American authors, ranging from Mexican poet Alurista to Chilean novelist Isabel Allende, who have made th