Take the Tortillas Out of Your Poetry

A New Mexican novelist, essayist, poet, and children’s literature author, Rudolfo Anaya (1937-2020) is one of the foundational writers of contemporary Chicano literature. His most notable work is the award-winning coming-of-age novel Bless Me, Ultima (1963), which is set in rural New Mexico and concerns the relationship between the young protagonist, Antonio, and a healer, Ultima. The novel has sold over one million copies while occupying several states’ banned-book lists.

The novel is semiautobiographical in nature, as Anaya grew up in Eastern New Mexico before relocating to Albuquerque as a teenager. The move provided Anaya with greater access to education, and he graduated from the University of New Mexico with a Bachelor’s in English and American Literature before returning for two Master’s, one in English and one in guidance and counseling. He later taught in the English Department for the remainder of his career while publishing over 50 works. For his lifelong dedication to literature, Anaya was awarded the National Humanities Medal in 2015.

For someone whose early career was often considered not political enough, Anaya established himself as one of the most significant writers of the Chicano Movement by weaving Mexican American traditions into his varied works. For Anaya, all literature is political, and it was this attitude that made him no stranger to censorship. His works explore Mexican American belonging in the US Southwest, Indigenous heritage, and preserving regional culture in the face of Americanization. In “Take the Tortillas Out of Your Poetry,” Anaya writes about the need to further develop Chicano perspectives while confronting dominant culture. The essay is only one of the many writings in which Anaya addresses these ideas.