Tomás Rivera

M. Carmen Gomez-Galisteo (Universidad a Distancia)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.7: Chicano/Latino Writing and Culture of the United States.
Vol. editors: Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), Nuala Finnegan (University College Cork), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University), Lori Oxford (Western Carolina University)

Dates

Born 22 Dec 1935
Died 16 May 1984
Activity 1971-1984

Places

Born in United States
Active in United States

Cultural Identities

Chicano/a American

Activities

Primary

Novelist
Poet
Teacher/ Professor

Resources

Rivera's Works

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Tomás Rivera was born in Crystal City, Texas, in 1935 of Mexican immigrant parents; his mother, daughter of a soldier of the Mexican Revolution, had lived in several cities in Texas, whereas his father had migrated to the U.S. at the age of fifteen to work on the railroad in the Midwest. The Depression, and the difficulties for Mexican immigrants to find work in those times of financial struggle and distress, convinced Florencio Rivera of the convenience of moving back to Mexico. It was on his way back home that he met his future wife in Crystal City, and hence decided to remain there.

As a child, Rivera spoke Spanish at home, which he continued to speak during his entire childhood. At the local school, attended mostly by Spanish-speaking students of Mexican immigrant background like

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1103 words

Citation: Gomez-Galisteo, M. Carmen. "Tomás Rivera". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 18 April 2008 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=12079, accessed 24 November 2024.]