Julia Alvarez (Author of In the Time of the Butterflies)

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Julia Alvarez

欧宝娱乐 Author

Born

in New York, New York, The United States

Website

Twitter

Genre

Literature & Fiction, Poetry, Young Adult

Member Since

April 2014

URL

/julia_alvarez

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Julia Alvarez left the Dominican Republic for the United States in 1960 at the age of ten. She is the author of six novels, three books of nonfiction, three collections of poetry, and eleven books for children and young adults. She has taught and mentored writers in schools and communities across America and, until her retirement in 2016, was a writer-in-residence at Middlebury College. Her work has garnered wide recognition, including a Latina Leader Award in Literature from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, the Hispanic Heritage Award in Literature, the Woman of the Year by Latina magazine, and inclusion in the New York Public Library鈥檚 program 鈥淭he Hand of the Poet: Original Manuscripts by 100 Masters, from John Donne to Julia ...more

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How do you get inspired to write?

Julia Alvarez Reading, reading, reading. . . I always say if my reading isn鈥檛 going well, my writing won鈥檛 either. Reading poetry to start the writing day is especi鈥辞谤别Reading, reading, reading. . . I always say if my reading isn鈥檛 going well, my writing won鈥檛 either. Reading poetry to start the writing day is especially effective for me. If a poet is really good, I feel the mystery stirring in me again, the faith confirmed that language can be used to get hold of what can't be put into words! Then, like that kid who doesn't want to go inside at the end of the day, I want to 鈥渟tay鈥� in that space that language can create, and the only way to stay there is to write, write, write, losing myself in the writing. (less)

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What are you currently working on?

Julia Alvarez In keeping with Mr. Johnson's commandment, see my advice to aspiring writers, I write every day鈥攐r try to. But I don鈥檛 know where I鈥檓 going till I get鈥辞谤别In keeping with Mr. Johnson's commandment, see my advice to aspiring writers, I write every day鈥攐r try to. But I don鈥檛 know where I鈥檓 going till I get there. If I give you a destination or set up the parameters of the work by describing it, I鈥檝e already contained it in my idea of it. So I鈥檓 letting myself play and wander and wonder over stories in my family鈥檚 past, stories in the past of my native country (Dominican Republic), the narrative ties that bind us all into blood families, nations, human family. That about covers the whole map! Additionally, I鈥檓 not just interested in content, but also in how a story can get told in ways that surprise. I remember my astonishment reading Julie Otsuka鈥檚 The Buddha in the Attic and realizing the effectiveness of writing a novel in the first person plural point of view and in small vignettes. More recently, I鈥檝e been dazzled by Colum McCann鈥檚 Apeirogon, and its almost Scheherazadian way of telling a story in 1001 small narratives, with "everything" thrown in and, amazingly, everything fits. . .
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Julia Alvarez鈥檚 books

Average rating: 3.9 · 172,749 ratings · 17,394 reviews · 88 distinct works 鈥� Similar authors

	In the Time of the Butterflies 4.15 avg rating — 76,500 ratings — published 1994 — 108 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	How the Garc铆a Girls Lost Their Accents 3.62 avg rating — 31,735 ratings — published 1991 — 72 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Afterlife 3.70 avg rating — 17,501 ratings — published 2020 — 21 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Cemetery of Untold Stories 3.66 avg rating — 10,790 ratings — published 2024 — 18 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Before We Were Free 3.90 avg rating — 9,092 ratings — published 2002 — 49 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Yo! 3.83 avg rating — 5,013 ratings — published 1997 — 34 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	In the Name of Salome 3.89 avg rating — 4,061 ratings — published 2000 — 38 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Return to Sender 3.78 avg rating — 3,996 ratings — published 2009 — 36 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Saving the World 3.37 avg rating — 3,015 ratings — published 2006 — 31 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	How Tia Lola Came to (Visit) Stay 3.74 avg rating — 1,948 ratings — published 2001 — 41 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Series by Julia Alvarez

Tia Lola Stories (4 books)
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Julia Alvarez (欧宝娱乐 Author)

3.76 avg rating — 2,462 ratings

To celebrate聽National Hispanic Heritage Month, which runs annually from September 15 through October 15 in the U.S,聽we鈥檝e compiled 84 new and...

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Julia Alvarez answered Francisco's question: Hello J煤lia i am portuguese and i written my 2 book of poetry in portuguese can you read my book and tell me what do you Think about it ? I can send you the book by e-mail i think you speak spanish s贸 you can read portuguese. Best regards Marisa Francisco Hello Francisco, thank you for writing! I'm sorry but I am not taking on any new authors for now. I have had serious visual difficulties, so must limit my reading time. Best of luck with your second book of poetry. Keep writing! Sincerely, Julia See Full Answer
Jun 09, 2023 06:29AM · 1 like · like

Julia Alvarez answered Francisco's question:

Hello J煤lia i am portuguese and i written my 2 book of poetry in portuguese can you read my book and tell me what do you Think about it ? I can send you the book by e-mail i think you speak spanish s贸 you can read portuguese. Best regards Marisa Francisco

Hello Francisco, thank you for writing! I'm sorry but I am not taking on any new authors for now. I have had serious visual difficulties, so must limit my reading time. Best of luck with your second book of poetry. Keep writing!

Sincerely, Julia See Full Answer

Jun 09, 2023 06:29AM · 1 like · like

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Polls

November New School Poll

Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene, 1962, 220 pages

57 votes, 22.2%

The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy, 1997, 340 pages

54 votes, 21.0%

I, Claudius by Robert Graves, 1934, 468 pages

43 votes, 16.7%

Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges, 1944, 174 pages

31 votes, 12.1%

A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute, 1950, 359 pages

30 votes, 11.7%

In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez, 1994, 324 pages

23 votes, 8.9%

Regeneration by Pat Barker, 1991, 256 pages

19 votes, 7.4%

257 total votes

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