"The Moths" Helena Maria Viramontes Author Bio

Bio for Helena Maria Viramontes

            Helena Viramontes was born on February 26, 1954, graduated from Immaculate Heart College, and is currently residing as a Professor of Fine Art's in Cornell University. She was one of the leading Hispanic writing figures in the 1980's and 1990's and based her writing almost solely off of her experiences growing up in East Los Angeles in the 1960's, in which she uses the hardships that she faced being a Latina Woman. One of eight siblings, her early years were had the most effect on her and influenced her works such as "The Moths", Under the Feet of Jesus, and They Came with Their Dogs. The best example of this influence is found in her work Under the Feet of Jesus in which shes takes on the persona of a 15 year old girl migrant worker, and follows her through the hardships she faced both as a woman in the 1960's through a feminist lens, and as a Latina through a Biographical lens. Born in 1954, the East Los Angeles that she grew up in was one that was pockmarked by social repression, and impoverished immigrants. California was one of the first states to see a massive immigration from Mexico since the end of the war, and it was through this massive amount of migration that it established it self as one of the fastest growing states in the nation. Immigrants were attracted to California through the promise of steady work mostly in the states many agriculture valleys, and also by the promise of cheap housing and familiar Mexican communities and culture, but with this migration also came a lot of social revolution as organizations such as Cesar Chavez, and his United Farmer's Union began to gain ground and fight for migrant worker rights. Mexican's weren't the only ones seeking change either, as other organizations such as the Black Panther's and the Civil Right's movement led by Martin Luther King also began to gain ground. In short, this rich environment of social awareness and social change heavily influenced Helena Viramontes in her childhood, and can be seen throughout her lifetime literary works. Her powerful writing influenced by this equally powerful background, are what has propelled her into textbooks and literature sessions worldwide, and is what inspires her novels general focus on the impoverished, and undocumented.

Romo, Ricardo. East Los Angeles: History of a Barrio. Austin: U of Texas, 1983. Google Books. Google. Web. 14 Oct. 2015.

Alaniz, Yolanda. "Helena Maria Viramontes." Helena Maria Viramontes. UC Santa Barbara Library, n.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2015.

"Helena María Viramontes." Helena María Viramontes. Stuart Bernstein Representation for Artists, 2014. Web. 14 Oct. 2015.