Latino Heritage Month: Chicana Author Helen Viramontes Speaks at CSU Dominguez Hills

In celebration of Latino Heritage Month, California State University, Dominguez Hills students were treated to a lecture by author Helena María Viramontes on Sept. 13. Lauded for her depiction of Chicano culture, the graduate of University of California, Irvine’s Master of Fine Arts program and professor of English at Cornell University presented her latest book, “Their Dogs Came With Them.”

The author of “The Moths and Other Stories; Under the Feet of Jesus,” a novel; and co-editor of two collections: “Chicana (W)rites: On Word and Film” and “Chicana Creativity and Criticism” (with Maria Herrera Sobek), Viramontes’s short stories and essays have been widely anthologized and her writings have been adopted for classroom use and university study. Her books have also garnered her numerous awards and honors, including the John Dos Passos Award for Literature. A community organizer and former coordinator of the Los Angeles Latino Writers Association, she is a widely sought after reader and lecturer.

Viramontes enthralled the audience with the story of how she came to write “Their Dogs Came With Them.” The novel was inspired by the freeway construction that took place in 1960s East Los Angeles. During the time, East L.A. was run by pseudo- martial law that caused an increase in violence, the uprooting of many homes and families and cement being poured over many graves, causing the voices of the past to be smothered. Viramontes hopes to give voices back to those that were buried and forgotten. The novel, which took Viramontes 19 years to complete, largely comes from her own experiences growing up.

“The Moths and Other Short Stories” was the breakout book that propelled Viramontes into the international spotlight. Dr. Irene Vasquez, chair of the Chicana/Chicano studies is responsible for Viramontes’s visit and said that she is moved to tears every time she reads the collection of stories.

Viramontes urged students not to take for granted the ethnic studies programs at CSU Dominguez Hills which are being taken away at other campuses. She reminded the audience that “people in the 60s and 70s died for us to have these programs.”

Viramontes also commended CSU Dominguez Hills for its diversity.

“I think campuses like this are a reflection of what the U.S. is,” she said. “It is a microcosm of what the macrocosm is.”

Erica Gonzalez, a Chicana/Chicano Studies major, was thankful for Viramontes’ visit to campus.

“Events that bring Chicano writers to come and tell us about their books is motivating and life-changing,” she said. “[It] encourages us to get our degrees and help others.”

Latino Heritage Month is being celebrated on campus from September 15 to October 15. For more information on events, see the official press release.

- Romel Edmond