The 2018 Rudolfo and Patricia Anaya Lecture on the Literature of the Southwest
Héctor Armienta
On Thursday, October 18th, the UNM Department of English will host the distinguished composer, librettist, and Pianist Héctor Armienta as the featured speaker for the ninth annual Rudolfo and Patricia Anaya Lecture on the Literature of the Southwest. Armienta will speak at 7:00pm in the Zimmerman Library Grand Hall (West Wing), with a reception to follow. The lecture is free and open to the public.
Héctor Armienta is a distinguished composer, librettist, and pianist, and his work has been performed throughout the United States, in Guadalajara, Mexico, and Barcelona, Spain. He is the artistic director of Opera Cultura, the only Latino-focused opera company in the United States. His work explores the Mexican and Mexican American cultural experience, and it draws on and reinvents Western and indigenous traditions. His awards and commissions include those from Meet the Composer, the National Endowment for the Arts, Arts International, Opera Pacific, the Pacific Company, Oakland East Bay Symphony, Western Stage Theater, and Opera Southwest. His newest opera, Bless Me, Ultima, is based on Rudolfo Anaya’s world-renowned novel and had its world premiere at the National Hispanic Cultural Center. The Bless Me, Ultima opera was funded in part by an NEA Access to Artistic Excellence grant, and it was commissioned by Opera Southwest and Opera Cultura. In addition to Bless Me, Ultima, Mr. Armienta’s other works include Coyotes y Conejos/Coyotes and Rabbits, a bilingual folk play for children; Cuentos de Peregrinación/Tales of Pilgrimage, a song cycle about the experiences of Mexican border-crossers; and Aguas Ancestrales/Ancient Waters, a musical theater trilogy inspired by the life of his grandmother.About the Lecture Series
The UNM English Department established the annual lecture series on the literature of the Southwest in 2010 through a gift from the renowned fiction writer Rudolfo Anaya and his late wife Patricia Anaya. A founder of UNM’s distinguished Creative Writing Program, Rudolfo Anaya is also an Emeritus Professor of English at UNM. His papers are held at UNM’s Center for Southwest Research.
The annual Rudolfo and Patricia Anaya Lecture on the Literature of the Southwest features foundational figures in southwestern literature, such as Acoma Pueblo poet Simon Ortiz (2010), Las Cruces writer and playwright Denise Chávez (2011), Taos writer John Nichols (2012), Kiowa writer N. Scott Momaday (2013), Chicana writer Ana Castillo (2014), and Santa Fe writer Anne Hillerman (2015).
Support the Rudolfo Anaya Fellowship Fund!
The UNM English Department also has the Rudolfo Anaya Fellowship Fund, which is very close to endowment and would then be available for student fellowships. We would like to encourage you to make a contribution to this fund; gifts of $100 or more will receive a poster of this year’s Rudolfo and Patricia Anaya lecture signed by Rudolfo Anaya and Anne Hillerman.
