ANAYA, RUDOLFO A.

born Oct. 30, 1937, Pastura, New Mexico, U.S. in full Rudolfo Alfonso Anaya American novelist and educator whose fiction expresses his Mexican-American heritage, the tradition of folklore and oral storytelling in Spanish, and the Jungian mythic perspective. Anaya graduated from the University of New Mexico (B.A., 1963; M.A., 1968; M.A. 1972). He worked as a public school teacher in Albuquerque (19631970) before becoming director of counseling at the University of Albuquerque. From 1974 he taught at the University of New Mexico. Bless Me, Ultima (1972), Anaya's acclaimed first novel, concerns a young boy growing up in New Mexico in the late 1940s. Heart of Aztln (1976) follows a family's move from rural to urban surroundings and confronts some of the problems of Chicano labourers. In Tortuga (1979) a boy encased in a body cast stays at a hospital for paralyzed children (reflecting experiences that were Anaya's as a child). These three novels make up a trilogy about Hispanic children in the United States. The novel The Legend of La Llorona (1984) is about La Malinche, an Indian slave who became the mistress, guide, and interpreter of the conquistador Hernn Corts. Anaya's other works include The Adventures of Juan Chicaspatas (1985) and his nonfiction A Chicano in China (1986). An advocate of multiculturalism and bilingualism, he translated, edited, and contributed to numerous anthologies of Hispanic writing.