Latino Author Series

Gary Soto

Biography

Gary Soto, born and raised in Fresno, California, is the author of ten poetry collections for adults, most notably New and Selected Poems, a 1995 finalist for both the Los Angeles Time Award and the National Book Award.

His recollection, Living Up The Street received a Before Columbus Foundation’s American Book Award. He also has received the Tomas Rivera Prize, the Human and Civil Right Award from the American Education Association, and the PEN Center West Book Award.

He serves as the Young Person’s Ambassador for both the UFW (United Farm Workers of America) and CRLA (California Rural Legal Assistance).

He lives in Berkely, California.

Questionnaire

If you could go back to your childhood and change something, what would it be and why

I would go back and be a better student. I’m sorry to say but I didn’t study very hard in Junior high and High school. I went to school to eat my lunch, to bother the girls, to lean my loneliness on a wall and not get involved in school activities. I wish I would have a better attitude about learning.

Who inspires you

Among poets, Pablo Neruda, the great Chilean poet whose odes influenced my early poetry. Among scholars, Samuel Johnson, the 17th century genius of the essay as well as the lexicographer who penned the first organized English dictionary. Then there are Cesar Chavez , Jose Padilla of CRLA, and Ora Lee Browne , an Oakland real estate Agent who adopted a class of kindergarteners with the promise that she would send each and Everyone of them to college. And she did.

Who is the most important person to you.

My wife, Carolyn . I think she’s funny, but a quiet funny. Her secret name for me is “Ginger”. It’s a long story, but it has to do with not listening to her when she shows me dresses and shoes in fancy women magazines.

What are the ups and downs of being a writer?

Waiting for my books to be published. A good many people believe that once a book is written it will come out immediately, say, in a couple of months. In truth, it takes up to years before the book comes out. I had one book take four years.

How does it feel to be a writer?

Great! I command so much respect at the post office because the clerks know that I’ll be buying priority stamps to send out my manuscripts. In my way I help the economy.

At what age did you start writing and who encouraged you to write?

I started when I was 20 and a student at Fresno City College between 1970-72. I fell in love with the poetry of Edward field , particularly his poem “Unwanted”, a funny poem about not feeling wanted by others. My encouragement came from reading other poets, some fiction writers.

Of all the writings you have done which is your favorite? And why?

I think it has to be Jesse , a young adult novel about two brothers. It’s partly autobiographical; and I suspect I like that element of the novel . In turn, there’s a tone to the writing that I never captured again.