Ramón Arroyo (November 15, 1954 – May 7, 2010) was an American playwright, poet and scholar of
Puerto Rican descent who wrote numerous books and received many literary awards. He was a professor of English and Creative Writing at the
University of Toledo
The University of Toledo (UToledo or UT) is a public research university in Toledo, Ohio. It is the northernmost campus of the University System of Ohio. The university also operates a Health Science campus, which includes the University of ...
in
Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
. His work deals extensively with issues of
immigration
Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, a ...
,
Latino
Latino or Latinos most often refers to:
* Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America
* Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States
* The people or cultures of Latin America;
** Latin A ...
culture, and
homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to pe ...
. Arroyo was
openly gay
''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'.
While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...
and frequently wrote self-reflexive, autobiographical texts.
[La Fountain-Stokes, Lawrence. "Arroyo, Rane." ''Heath Anthology of American Literature, Volume E: Contemporary Period (1945 to the Present)'', Fifth Ed. Paul Lauter, general ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2006. 2989-90. ] He was the long-term partner of the American poet Glenn Sheldon.
Biography
Ramón Arroyo was born in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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,
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...
, to Puerto Rican parents. He began his career as a performance artist in the Chicago art galleries of the 1980s and eventually expanded into poetry, for which he has become best known.
Arroyo earned his Ph.D. in English and Cultural Studies from the
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the univers ...
where he wrote his dissertation on issues surrounding the "Chicago Renaissance" that parallel the building of a contemporary Latino literary canon. He served as the co-Vice President of the Board of Directors for the
Association of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP) and as the co-Chair for the 2009 Chicago Conference.
His last public poetry reading was at SUNY/Brockport on March 31, 2010. His last three words to the public at that reading were: "Live. Then Write." Although it does not appear on the electronic version of the DVD Brockport made, it is quite audible on the YouTube clip immediately following a sampling of a Lady Gaga song which ended his poetry reading. Those three words were words he not only lived by but demanded of his creative writing students.
Arroyo died in the early morning of May 7, 2010 due to a cerebral hemorrhage.
Critical reception
Arroyo was included in the ''Heath Anthology of American Literature'' published in 2006; this book is commonly taught in English college classes in the U.S.
[ He won the 2004–05 John Ciardi Poetry Prize for ''The Portable Famine''; the 1997 Carl Sandburg Poetry Prize for his book ''The Singing Shark''; and a 1997 Pushcart Prize for the poem "Breathing Lessons" as published in ''Ploughshares''. Other awards include: Stonewall Books Chapbook Prize; The Sonora Review Chapbook Prize, the Hart Crane Memorial Poetry Prize, and a 2007 Ohio Arts Council Excellence Award in Poetry.
Betsy A. Sandlin published an article on him ("Poetry Always Demands All My Ghosts: The Haunted and Haunting Poetry of Rane Arroyo") in a landmark issue of ''CENTRO: Journal of the Center for Puerto Rican Studies'' on Puerto Rican queer studies. Lawrence La Fountain-Stokes has also written about his work.][
]
Works
Books of poetry
*''Columbus's Orphan.'' Arcadia, Fl.: JVC books, 1993, .
*''The Singing Shark.'' Tempe, AZ: Bilingual Press, 1996, .
*''Pale Ramón.'' Cambridge, Mass.: Zoland Books, 1998, .
*''Home Movies of Narcissus.'' Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 2002, .
*''The Portable Famine.'' Kansas City, Mo.: BkMk Press, 2005, .
*
*''The Roswell Poems.'' La Porte, Ind.: WordFarm, 2008, .
*''Same-Sex Séances.'' New Sins Press, 2008, .
*''The Buried Sea: New & Selected Poems.'' Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 2008, .
*''The Sky's Weight.'' Turning Point Press, 2009, .
*''White as Silver: Poems.'' West Somerville, MA: Cervená Barva Press, 2010, .
Book of short stories
*''How to Name a Hurricane''. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 2005, .
Performed plays
*''The Amateur Virgin'', ''Buddha and the Señorita'', ''Tiara Tango'', ''Emily Dickinson in Bandages'', ''A Family in Figleaves'', ''Prayers for a Go-Go Boy'', ''Honeymoon Rehearsals'', ''House with Black Windows'' (with the poet Glenn Sheldon), ''Red House On Fire'', and ''Horatio: An Inquisition''
Published plays
* ''Dancing at Funerals: Selected Plays''. Tokio and Toronto: ahadada books, 2010, .
* ''Buddha and the Señorita'', ''Sex with the Man-in-the-Moon'', ''Spanish Moon'', ''Bed But No Breakfast'', ''Fade to White'' (with the poets Glenn Sheldon and Diane Williams), ''Honeymoon Rehearsals'', and ''A Lesson in Writing Love Letters''
Awards and honors
* 1985 Jane Chambers Playwriting Award. ''Other Couples: Three One-Act Plays''
* 1991 1st Prize, Hart Crane Memorial Award, Kent State University, for the poem "Le Mal de Siam"
* 1992 2nd place, Allen Ginsberg Poetry Award for poem "The Carlos Poems #1"
* 1993 Winner of the George Houston Bass Drama Award, Brown University's Rites and Reason Theater, for the play ''The Amateur Virgin''
* 1993 Winner of the Sonora Review/University of Arizona's National Chapbook Contest for The Red Bed poems
* 1997 Carl Sandburg Poetry Award for ''The Singing Shark''
* 1997 Pushcart Prize for poem, "Breathing Lessons," published in ''Ploughshares''
* 1997 Winner of the Stonewall Books National Chapbook Contest for ''The Naked Thief''
* 1998 Arts Commission of Greater Toledo Individual Artist Grant for "Blood Never Rusts", an experimental story
* 1999 Honorable Mention, Crossing Borders 1999 Contest, Wharf Rat Theater, ''The Darkness after a Millennium of Blondes''
* 2001 Finalist, 7th Annual West Coast Ten-Minute Playwriting Contest "Lord Byron, The God"
* 2001–02 Arts Commission of Greater Toledo Individual Artist Grant for Creative Non-fiction Essay on Toledo, "Glass Words"
* 2004 Finalist for The Ohioana Award for ''Home Movies of Narcissus''
* 2004 Gwendolyn Brooks Poetry Prize/1st Place for ''Winter Wear (The Immigrants)''
* 2004–05 John Ciardi Poetry Prize for the poetry collection, ''The Portable Famine'', included publication
* 2005 Included in the prestigious ''Heath Anthology of American Literature: Volume E, Contemporary Period: 1945 to the Present'' (5th Edition)Editor: Dr. Paul Lauter, Houghton Mifflin, 2005: 2989–2995, introductory essay by Dr. Lawrence La Fountain-Stokes (U of Michigan—Ann Arbor)
* 2006 Caesar Chavez Visiting Writer, Saginaw Valley State University
* 2006 ForeWord Poetry Book of The Year Finalist for ''The Portable Famine''
* 2006 Independent Publishers Awards finalist nominee for ''How to Name a Hurricane''
* 2006 Nominated for a Pushcart Prize (by Cream City Review) for ''What Daniel and I Talk About When We're Naked''
* 2007 Included in Contemporary Authors. Also in The Latino Encyclopedia
* 2007 Nominated for a Pushcart Prize (by Poems & Plays) for ''A Lesson in Writing Love Letters'', a one-act play
* 2007–08 Ohio Arts Council Excellence Award in Poetry/State Grant
* 2009 Inducted into the Ohio Center of the Book
* 2009 Nominated for the 15th time for a Pushcart Prize by Saranac Review for ''The Closet''
* 2009 Nominated for the 16th time for a Pushcart Prize by Aperture for "
* 2009 The International Latino Literary Prize: Honorable Mention in Poetry: ''The Buried Sea: New and Selected Poems''
Legacy
In 2012
Seven Kitchens Press
announced the creation of the Rane Arroyo Chapbook Prize for an original, unpublished poetry manuscript. The editors for this prize are Dan Vera and Ron Mohring. The co-winners of the inaugural prize wer
Steven Alvarez
and Rhett Watts.
In 2015, Arroyo was inducted into the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame.
See also
* List of Puerto Rican writers
This is a list of Puerto Rican literary figures, including poets, novelists, short story authors, and playwrights. It includes people who were born in Puerto Rico, people who are of Puerto Rican ancestry, and long-term residents or immigrants ...
* List of Latin American writers
This is a list of some of the most important writers from Latin America, organized by cultural region and nationality. The focus is on Latin American literature.
Andeans
Bolivia
* Alcides Arguedas (1879–1946), historian
*Matilde Casazola
* J ...
* List of Puerto Ricans
*Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States ''The Society for the Study of the Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States'' (''MELUS'') is a scholarly society established in 1974. MELUS publishes a quarterly academic journal, ''MELUS''. The aim of the Society is "to expand the definition of ...
*American poetry
American poetry refers to the poetry of the United States. It arose first as efforts by American colonists to add their voices to English poetry in the 17th century, well before the constitutional unification of the Thirteen Colonies (although ...
*LGBT literature LGBT literature may refer to:
* Lesbian literature
* Gay literature
* Bisexual literature
* Transgender literature
Transgender literature is a collective term used to designate the literary production that addresses, has been written by or portra ...
*Puerto Rican literature
Puerto Rican literature is the body of literature produced by writers of Puerto Rican descent. It evolved from the art of oral storytelling. Written works by the indigenous inhabitants of Puerto Rico were originally prohibited and repressed by th ...
References
External links
Rane Arroyo - Poetry Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arroyo, Rane
1954 births
2010 deaths
Affrilachian Poets
American gay writers
LGBT people from Illinois
American people of Puerto Rican descent
Writers from Chicago
University of Pittsburgh alumni
University of Toledo faculty
Chapbook writers
American LGBT poets
LGBT Hispanic and Latino American people
Gay academics
20th-century African-American people
21st-century African-American people
African-American male writers