Biography
Julia Alvarez was born in New York City, but moved to the Dominican Republic at the age of three months. She and her family returned to the United States when she was ten. She decided to become a writer while in high school, and orginially pursued poetry before switching to prose. Her most recognized novel, "How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents", for which she won the PEN Oakland/ Josephine Mills Award,was published in 1990. Her second novel, "In the Time of the Butterflies", was made into a feature film produced by and starring Salma Hayek. Alvarez's other books include: "Saving the World", "A Gift of Gracias", "Finding Miracles", "The Woman I Kept to Myself", "Before We were Free", "A Cafecito Story", "How T'a Lola Came to Visit/Stay", "The Secret Footprints", "In the Name of Salom?", "Something to Declare", "Yo!", "Homecoming: New and Collected Poems", and "The Other Side/El Otro Lado". Her work continues to be praised for its significance to Hispanic culture and to Hispanic women in particular. Alvarez has won numerous awards and citations for her work. She is currently a writer in residence at Middlebury College and owns a sustainable farm-literacy center in the Dominican Republic.Education
BA, Middlebury College, Middlebury, VT (1969-71)
MA in Creative Writing, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY (1973-75)Occupation
Author
Writer in Residence at Middlebury College
Business owner