by Joe Buffaloe
Daily Lobo
It was a scene that could only take place in New Mexico.
A guitarist and harpist performed traditional songs of the pueblo onstage. A poet spoke of the wood stove of his childhood and Elvis crossing the plains in the same sentence. Tables were lined with whites, African-Americans and Hispanics, and the sounds of English and Spanish mingled with the smell of Mexican food and chocolate cake under a crowded tent.
The National Hispanic Cultural Center, the UNM creative writing program and the cities of Albuquerque and Bernalillo held a matanza, a traditional Hispanic cookout, for Rudolfo Anaya on Sunday. The event celebrated the author and teacher's work, as well as a scholarship created in his name. It took place at the New Mexico Wine Festival Grounds in Bernalillo from noon to 5 p.m. Those who attended were treated to food, music and the chance to meet Anaya and get books signed.
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"We're making history here today," said Chuy Martinez of the musical group Pa' Uste', who served as MC of the event. "We're bringing together la gente del pueblo and la gente del barrio with the University crowd."
The matanza was also part of Albuquerque's Tricentennial celebration.
When Anaya entered UNM in the '50s, he was thrust into a world alienated from the Mexican-American experience of his childhood. He went on to teach at UNM in the English department from 1974 until his retirement in 1993, and he holds the title of professor emeritus.
Now the University is honoring him with the creation of a scholarship in his name. The funds raised by the matanza will go toward the Rudolfo Anaya Scholarship and Fellowship Fund, which will be awarded to a Hispanic student admitted to or enrolled in the Master of Fine Arts program in creative writing at UNM.
Sharon Oard Warner, director of the creative writing program at UNM, said the scholarship will continue the tradition of excellence in Chicano literature.
The scholarship will be worth $1,300 this year, though the creative writing program would like to increase that in the future, Warner said.
Considered the founder of Chicano literature, Anaya has published numerous classic books, including Bless Me Ultima, Tortuga, and Alburquerque. Bless Me Ultima, his first novel, is now a standard of high schools throughout the Southwest as well as many Chicano Studies programs at the college level.
Anaya has continued to write since his retirement. He published a collection of short stories titled The Man Who Could Fly, due out next week. He has been enjoying all of his free time, he said.
He was humble about the matanza.
"All the credit goes to the organizers and the people who set up the scholarship," he said. "I'm glad that we'll get to help the students."
