Luis Miguel Valdez is an American playwright, screenwriter, film director and actor. Regarded as the father of Chicano film and playwriting, Valdez is best known for his play Zoot Suit, his movie La Bamba, and his creation of El Teatro Campesino. A pioneer in the Chicano Movement, Valdez broadened the scope of theatre and arts of the Chicano community.
Valdez in 2008
Chicano literature is an aspect of Mexican-American literature that emerged from the cultural consciousness developed in the Chicano Movement. Chicano literature formed out of the political and cultural struggle of Chicana/os to develop a political foundation and identity that rejected Anglo-American hegemony. This literature embraced the pre-Columbian roots of Mexican-Americans, especially those who identify as Chicana/os.
Luis J. Rodriguez (2009)
Octavio Romano helped establish Quinto Sol in 1967. It was the first publisher focused on Chicano literature.
Gloria AnzaldĂșa. Oakland, Ca. 1988, queer Chicana poet author of Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza (1987).
Chicano poet Alurista performing a poetry reading (1982)