Gary soto family
- •
Gary Soto - Author
Gary Soto is a native of Fresno. He began writing when he was 20 and discovered an array of contemporary American Poets. He majored in English and graduated from Fresno State in 1974.
Gary is the author of ten poetry collections for adults, most notably New and Selected Poems, a 1995 finalist for both The Los Angeles Times Award and the National Book Award. His poems have appeared in Ploughshares, The Iowa Review, Ontario Review and most frequently, Poetry.
In 1999, Gary was honored with Human and Civil Right Award from the American Education Association, the Literature Award from the Hispanic Heritage Foundation, and the PEN Center West Book Award from his young-adult short story collection Petty Crimes.
Gary and his wife Carolyn have been married for 29 years. Together they have one daughter Mariko. In his free time Gary enjoys reading, tennis, basketball and traveling.
Related Links
- •
Gary Soto facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Gary Soto | |
|---|---|
Soto at the 2001 National Book Festival | |
| Born | Gary Anthony Soto (1952-04-12) April 12, 1952 (age 72) Fresno, California |
| Occupation | Author, poet |
| Education | MFA |
| Alma mater | UC Irvine, CSU Fresno |
| Period | 1977-present |
| Genre | poetry, novels, memoirs, children's literature |
| Notable works | Petty Crimes New and Selected Poems Living Up the Street |
| Notable awards | Academy of American Poets Prize American Book Award NEA Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowship |
Gary Anthony Soto (born April 12, 1952) is an American poet, novelist, memoirist, and author of children's literature. He is best known for his poems and children's storybooks.
Life and career
Soto was born to Mexican-American parents Manuel (1910–1957) and Angie Soto (1924-). Gary's father died when he was five years old. The family had a hard time finding work, and as a child, Gary worked in the fields of the San Joaquin Valley. He became interested in poetry while he was in high school after reading the works of Ernest Hemingway, John S
- •
Best summary PDF, themes, and quotes. More books than SparkNotes.
Gary Soto was born in Fresno, California on April 12, 1952. He was born into a working-class Mexican-American family. His father, Manuel Soto, died when Gary was five years old in an industrial accident. As Soto recounts in interviews, he spent most of his free time through high school working in farms in the San Joaquin Valley. He picked grapes and oranges, collected aluminum, and hoed cotton and beets. Everyone in his family was a field or factory worker. During Soto's childhood, the practice of real-estate "red-lining" was still legal in California, which meant that Soto lived in mostly-segregated Mexican-American neighborhoods. Eventually, Soto's mother remarried and they moved to a whiter neighborhood. Nevertheless, Soto recounts in an interview that he felt like "the likelihood of going beyond [poverty] was minuscule."
He was introduced to poetry at Fresno City College. As he recounts, he picked up an anthology of poetry almost by happenstance at a library. It was The New American Poetry, edited by Don
Copyright ©armywing.pages.dev 2025