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Denise Elia Chávez (born August 15, 1948) is a
Chicana Chicano (masculine form) or Chicana (feminine form) is an ethnic identity for Mexican Americans that emerged from the Chicano Movement. In the 1960s, ''Chicano'' was widely reclaimed among Hispanics in the building of a movement toward politic ...
author,
playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...
, and
stage director A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...
. She has also taught classes at
New Mexico State University New Mexico State University (NMSU or NM State) is a public, land-grant, research university in Las Cruces, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1888, it is the state's oldest public institution of higher education, and was the original land-g ...
. She is based in
New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...
.


Early life and education

Chávez was born to a Mexican American family in
Las Cruces, New Mexico Las Cruces (; ; lit. 'the crosses') is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico and the county seat, seat of Doña Ana County, New Mexico, Doña Ana County. As of the 2020 United States ce ...
. and The first story she wrote was when she was 8, about the
willow tree Willows, also called sallows and osiers, of the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 350 species (plus numerous hybrids) of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions. Most species are known ...
outside her house. Chávez attended
Catholic school Catholic schools are Parochial school, parochial pre-primary, primary and secondary educational institutions administered in association with the Catholic Church. , the Catholic Church operates the world's largest parochial schools, religious, no ...
for twelve years. She graduated from Madonna High School in Mesilla. While in High School, she won a full tuition scholarship to study
drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...
at
New Mexico State University New Mexico State University (NMSU or NM State) is a public, land-grant, research university in Las Cruces, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1888, it is the state's oldest public institution of higher education, and was the original land-g ...
(NMSU). She received her Bachelor's from NMSU in 1971 and master's degrees in Theater from Trinity University in 1974. While in college, she began writing dramatic works. Later she entered the MFA program at the
University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; ) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1889 by the New Mexico Territorial Legislature, it is the state's second oldest university, a flagship university in th ...
(UNM) and earned a degree in Creative Writing in 1984 under the direction of mentors
Rudolfo Anaya Rudolfo Anaya (October 30, 1937June 28, 2020) was an American author. Noted for his 1972 novel '' Bless Me, Ultima'', Anaya was considered one of the founders of the canon of contemporary Chicano and New Mexican literature. The themes and cult ...
and
Tony Hillerman Anthony Grove Hillerman (May 27, 1925 – October 26, 2008) was an American author of detective novels and nonfiction works, best known for his mystery novels featuring Navajo Nation Police officers Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee. Several of his w ...
.


Career

Chávez taught
creative writing Creative writing is any writing that goes beyond the boundaries of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on craft and technique, such as narrative structure, character ...
at
New Mexico State University New Mexico State University (NMSU or NM State) is a public, land-grant, research university in Las Cruces, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1888, it is the state's oldest public institution of higher education, and was the original land-g ...
, New Mexico Community College and at the
University of Houston The University of Houston (; ) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas, United States. It was established in 1927 as Houston Junior College, a coeducational institution and one of multiple junior colleges formed in ...
. Later, she created The Border Book Festival in her hometown of Las Cruces. Currently she is developing, along with her husband, Daniel Zolinsky, a Borderland Art and Resource center, Museo de La Gente/Museum of the people, archiving the history and story of her borderland community. In 1985, she earned the Rockefeller Playwriting Fellowship. She has received various awards, including the
American Book Award The American Book Awards are an American literary award that annually recognizes a set of books and people for "outstanding literary achievement". According to the 2010 awards press release, it is "a writers' award given by other writers" and "t ...
in 1995, New Mexico Governor's Award in Literature in 1995, the
Premio Aztlán Literary Prize The Premio Aztlán Literary Prize is a national literary award for emerging Chicana and Chicano authors, founded in 1993 by Rudolfo and Patricia Anaya.
, the Mesilla Valley Author of the Year Award, and the 2003 Hispanic Heritage Award for Literature. She earned the Lifetime Achievement Award, Paul Bartlett Ré Peace Prize from the
University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; ) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1889 by the New Mexico Territorial Legislature, it is the state's second oldest university, a flagship university in th ...
in 2016. Chávez has also been awarded a
Premio Aztlán Literary Prize The Premio Aztlán Literary Prize is a national literary award for emerging Chicana and Chicano authors, founded in 1993 by Rudolfo and Patricia Anaya.
. She serves on the editorial advisory board of the Latin American and Latinx literature, philosophy, and arts journal
Chasqui A ''chasqui'' (also spelled chaski) was a messenger of the Inca Empire. Agile, highly trained and physically fit, they were in charge of carrying messages in the form of quipus, oral information, or small packets. Along the Inca road system t ...
.


Writing

Chávez says that when she is creating new work, she writes in whatever language she is "in the mood to write in," using either
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...
or
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...
. Her work questions reality and examines how people's lives follow patterns. She is also interested in writing about people who are often overlooked by society, or considered "invisible." Her characters have individual and unique voices. In 1986, Chávez published her first collection of short stories, ''The Last of the Menu Girls''. The stories are about a
Chicana Chicano (masculine form) or Chicana (feminine form) is an ethnic identity for Mexican Americans that emerged from the Chicano Movement. In the 1960s, ''Chicano'' was widely reclaimed among Hispanics in the building of a movement toward politic ...
young adult living in New Mexico. The female characters in these stories are "well-focused, occasionally naive but never weak," writes the ''
Albuquerque Journal The ''Albuquerque Journal'' is the largest newspaper in the U.S. state of New Mexico. History The ''Golden Gate'' newspaper was founded in June 1880. In the fall of 1880, the owner of the ''Golden Gate'' died and Journal Publishing Company was ...
''. Her first novel was ''Face of An Angel'', published in 1994. ''Face'' took her seven and a half years to complete. The ''Albuquerque Journal'' compared it to Thomas Wolfe's ''
Look Homeward, Angel ''Look Homeward, Angel: A Story of the Buried Life'' is a 1929 novel by Thomas Wolfe. It is Wolfe's first novel, and is considered a highly autobiographical American coming-of-age story. The character of Eugene Gant is generally believed to be ...
'', writing that "Both novels are mammoth in text, deal with family trappings and bickering, are suspiciously autobiographical and give eloquent testimony to oppressive, mundane living." Chávez published a novel, ''Loving Pedro Infante'' in 2001. It is a humorous story about "mismatched lovers," according to the ''
Arizona Daily Star The ''Arizona Daily Star'' is an American daily newspaper based in Tucson, Arizona, and owned by Lee Enterprises. It serves Tucson and surrounding districts of Southern Arizona in the United States. History 1877–1925 L. C. Hughes was the ...
''. A story from
Gannett News Service Gannett Co., Inc. ( ) is an American mass media holding company headquartered in New York City. It is the largest U.S. newspaper publisher as measured by total daily circulation. It owns the national newspaper ''USA Today'', as well as severa ...
wrote that the story explores "excuses women make for their involvement with men who are no good for them."


Works

*''The Last of the Menu Girls'', Arte Publico Press, 1986 *''Face of An Angel'', Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1994 *''Loving
Pedro Infante Pedro Infante Cruz (; 18 November 1917 – 15 April 1957) was a Mexican ranchera singer and actor whose career spanned the golden age of Mexican cinema. Infante was born in Mazatlán, Sinaloa, and raised in nearby Guamúchil. He died on 15 Apri ...
'', Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2001 *A Taco Testimony: Meditations on Family, Food and Culture, Rio Nuevo 2006 *The King and Queen of Comezón, University of Oklahoma Press, 2014 *''Street of Too Many Stories'', Conocimientos Press, 2024


Plays

Chávez has written plays in both
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...
and
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...
which have been performed in both Europe and the United States. Some remain unpublished. * ''Novitiates'' (1971) * ''The Flying Tortilla Man'' (1975) * ''Rainy Day Waterloo'' (1976) * ''The Third Door'' (1978) * ''Sí, hay posada'' (1980) * ''The Green Madonna'' (1982) * ''La morenita'' (1983) * ''El más pequeño de mis hijos'' (1983) * ''Plague-Time'' (1984) * ''Novena Narrativas'' (1986) * ''Language of Vision'' (1987)


References


Further reading

* *


External links


Inventory of the Denise Chávez Papers, 1965-1987
University of New Mexico, University Libraries, Center for Southwest Research] {{DEFAULTSORT:Chavez, Denise 1948 births Living people Writers from New Mexico Hispanos of New Mexico 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American women novelists 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers 20th-century American short story writers 21st-century American short story writers American Book Award winners American writers of Mexican descent People from Las Cruces, New Mexico New Mexico State University alumni