Editing Julia Alvarez (section)

==Biography==

===Early life and education===
Julia Alvarez was born in 1950 in [[New York City]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.biography.com/people/julia-alvarez-185850 |title=Julia Alvarez |website=Biography.com |access-date=March 17, 2019 }}</ref> When she was three months old, her family moved back to the [[Dominican Republic]], where they lived for the next ten years.<ref name="dalleo135">{{harvnb|Dalleo|Machado Sáez|2007|p= 135}}</ref> She attended the [[Carol Morgan School]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Alvarez|first=Julia|date=1987|title=An American Childhood in the Dominican Republic|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41211381|journal=The American Scholar|volume=56|issue=1|pages=71–85|jstor=41211381 |access-date=June 28, 2021}}</ref> She grew up with her extended family in sufficient comfort to enjoy the services of maids.<ref>{{harvnb|Alvarez|1998|p= 116}}</ref> Critic Silvio Sirias believes that Dominicans value a talent for story-telling; Alvarez developed this talent early and was "often called upon to entertain guests".<ref>{{harvnb|Sirias|2001|p= 1}}</ref> In 1960, the family was forced to flee to the United States after her father participated in a failed plot to overthrow the island's military dictator, [[Rafael Trujillo]],<ref>{{harvnb|Day|2003|p= 33}}</ref> circumstances which would later be revisited in her writing: her novel ''[[How the García Girls Lost Their Accents]]'', for example, portrays a family that is forced to leave the Dominican Republic in similar circumstances,<ref>{{harvnb|Dalleo|Machado Sáez|2007|p= 4}}</ref> and in her poem, "Exile", she describes "the night we fled the country" and calls the experience a "loss much larger than I understood".<ref name="day40">{{harvnb|Day|2003|p= 40}}</ref>

Alvarez's transition from the Dominican Republic to the United States was difficult; Sirias comments that she "lost almost everything: a homeland, a language, family connections, a way of understanding, and a warmth".<ref name="sirias2">{{harvnb|Sirias|2001|p= 2}}</ref> She experienced alienation, homesickness, and prejudice in her new surroundings.<ref name="day40" /> In ''How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents'', a character asserts that trying to raise "consciousness [in the Dominican Republic]... would be like trying for cathedral ceilings in a tunnel".<ref>{{harvnb|Alvarez|2005|p= 121}}</ref>

As one of the few Latin American students in her [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholic]] school, Alvarez faced discrimination because of her heritage.<ref name="AboutMe">{{cite web |url=http://juliaalvarez.com/about/ |title=About Me:Julia Alvarez |author=Julia Alvarez |access-date=October 25, 2011 }}</ref> This caused her to turn inward and led to her fascination with literature, which she called "a portable homeland".<ref name="sirias2" /> She was encouraged by many of her teachers to pursue writing, and from a young age, was certain that this was what she wanted to do with her life.<ref name="day40" /> At the age of 13, her parents sent her to [[Abbot Academy]], a boarding school, because the local schools were not considered sufficient.<ref name="sirias3">{{harvnb|Sirias|2001|p= 3}}</ref> As a result, her relationship with her parents suffered, and was further strained when every summer she returned to the Dominican Republic to "reinforce their identities not only as Dominicans but also as proper young lady".<ref>{{harvnb|Johnson|2005|p= 18}}</ref> These intermittent exchanges between countries informed her cultural understanding, the basis of many of her works.<ref name="sirias3"/>

After graduating from Abbot Academy in 1967, she attended [[Connecticut College]] from 1967 to 1969 (where she won the Benjamin T. Marshall Poetry Prize) and then transferred to [[Middlebury College]], where she obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree, ''[[summa cum laude]]'' and [[Phi Beta Kappa]]  (1971). She then received a master's degree from [[Syracuse University]] (1975).<ref name="sirias3" />

===Career===
After acquiring a [[master's degree]] in 1975, Alvarez took a position as a writer-in-residence for the Kentucky Arts Commission. She traveled throughout the state visiting elementary schools, high schools, colleges and communities, conducting writing workshops and giving readings. She attributes these years with providing her a deeper understanding of America and helping her realize her passion for teaching. After her work in Kentucky, she extended her educational endeavors to California, Delaware, North Carolina, Massachusetts, Washington, D.C., and Illinois.<ref name="sirias4">{{harvnb|Sirias|2001|p= 4}}</ref>

Alvarez was a Visiting Assistant Professor of English for the [[University of Vermont]], in [[Burlington, VT|Burlington, Vermont]], for a two-year appointment in creative writing, 1981–83. She taught fiction and poetry workshops, introductory and advanced (for upperclassmen and graduate students) as well as a course on fiction (lecture format, 45 students).<ref>[http://www.juliaalvarez.com/about/vita.php] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191018175037/http://www.juliaalvarez.com/about/vita.php|date=October 18, 2019}} Julia Alverez Vita</ref>

In addition to writing, Alvarez holds the position of writer-in-residence at Middlebury College, where she teaches creative writing on a part-time basis.<ref name="sirias4" /> Alvarez currently resides in the [[Champlain Valley]] in [[Vermont]]. She has served as a panelist, consultant, and editor, as a judge for literary awards such as the [[PEN/Newman's Own First Amendment Award]] and the [[Casa de las Américas Prize]],<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.juliaalvarez.com/about/vita.php | title=Vita | publisher=juliaalvarez.com | access-date=September 20, 2014 | archive-date=October 18, 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191018175037/http://www.juliaalvarez.com/about/vita.php | url-status=dead }}</ref> and also gives readings and lectures across the country.<ref name="Day 2003 p= 41">{{harvnb|Day|2003|p= 41}}</ref> She and her partner, Bill Eichner, an ophthalmologist, created Alta Gracia, a farm-literacy center dedicated to the promotion of [[environmental sustainability]] and literacy and education worldwide.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.cafealtagracia.com |title=Café Alta Gracia – Organic Coffee from the Dominican Republic |publisher=Cafealtagracia.com |access-date=October 13, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081021220452/http://www.cafealtagracia.com/ |archive-date=October 21, 2008 }}</ref><ref name="Sirias 2001 p= 5">{{harvnb|Sirias|2001|p= 5}}</ref> Alvarez and her husband purchased the farm in 1996 with the intent to promote cooperative and independent coffee-farming in the Dominican Republic.<ref>{{harvnb|Coonrod Martínez|2007|p= 9}}</ref> Alvarez is part of Border of Lights, an activist group that encourages positive relations between Haiti and the Dominican Republic.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.aarp.org/entertainment/celebrities/info-2018/julia-alvarez-hispanic-heritage-month.html?intcmp=AE-ENT-CEL-EOA1|title=Author Julia Alvarez on Having Dual Citizenship|work=AARP|access-date=November 26, 2018|language=en}}</ref>