Symposium honors Distinguished Alumnus Tino Villanueva

An April 6 symposium at Trinity University will honor Distinguished Alumnus and San Marcos native Tino Villanueva (B.A. ‘69). As the keynote speaker for the event, Villanueva will give the university’s Madrid Lecture on Latino@ Arts at 1:00 p.m. via Zoom.

After earning a bachelor’s degree in Spanish from Texas State, Villanueva went on to complete his master’s degree at the State University of New York at Buffalo and his doctoral degree at Boston University. Villanueva writes in both English and Spanish, his work examining the nuances of living within two different cultures. His early 1970s poetry, including his first collection of poems, Hay Otra Voz Poems (There is Another Voice Poems), was quintessential in the Chicano Literary Renaissance.

In 1994, he received the American Book Award for his book-length poem, Scene from the Movie GIANT, which was inspired by his childhood in San Marcos. His most recent collection, So Spoke Penelope, was published in 2013. Villanueva’s poetry has been translated into Italian, French, German, Portuguese, Greek, and Korean. A selection of his papers is held in Texas State’s Wittliff Collections.

In addition to writing, he founded Imagine Publishers, Inc. and edited Imagine: International Chicano Poetry Journal and an anthology of Chicano literature, Chicanos: Antología Histórica y Literaria. He has taught at Wellesley College and Boston University.

Villanueva was awarded Texas State’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 1995 and the College of Liberal Arts’ Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award in 2015.

The Madrid Lecture began in 2017 and is named for Trinity’s Professor Emeritus Arturo Madrid. Madrid is among the scholars who will offer reflections on Villanueva’s work at the symposium. Others include Tomás Ybarra-Frausto, Norma Alarcón, Lilliana Saldaña, José Antonio Gurpegui, Daniele Arciello, Armando Miguélez, Imelda Martin Junquera, Juanita Luna Lawhn, Jaime Armin Mejía, Inmaculada Lara Bonilla, and John Phillip Santos.

The lecture is free and open to the community. The event schedule and additional information can be found on Trinity’s events calendar.