Fray Angelico Chavez: Poet, Priest, and Artist

Ellen McCracken

New Mexico's first Franciscan priest, Fray Angelico Ch�vez (1910-1996) is known as a prolific historian, a literary and artistic figure, and an intellectual who played a vital role in Santa Fe's community of writers. The original essays collected here explore his wide-ranging cultural production: fiction, poetry, architectural restoration, journalism, genealogy, translation, and painting and drawing. Several essays discuss his approach to history, his archival research, and the way in which he re-centers ethnic identity in the prevalent Anglo-American master historical narrative. Others examine how he used fiction to bring history alive and combined visual and verbal elements to enhance his narratives. Two essays explore Ch�vez's profession as a friar. The collection ends with recollections by Thomas E. Ch�vez, historian and Fray Ang�lico's nephew.

Readers familar with Ch�vez's work as well as those learning about it for the first time will find much that surprises and informs in these essays.

"A wonderful tribute to a great man."--Rudolfo Anaya

"UNM Press is to be congratulated on the publication of this long-awaited work on Fray Ch�vez. His fiction, his poetics, and his art work are fully detailed by a select group of both young and seasoned scholars."--Rolando Hinojosa-Smith

" . . . I cannot imagine a better introduction to [Chávez] than this volume." --St. Anthony Messenger

"Ellen McCracken has constructed an excellent collective endeavor."--The Journal of Arizona History

"One can only hope for further explorations into this remarkable man's life, thought, and expression."--Journal of Hispanic/Latino Theology

Ellen McCracken is professor of Spanish at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She is also the author of New Latina Narrative: The Feminine Space of Postmodern Ethnicity and Decoding Women's Magazines: From Mademoiselle to Ms.

Paso Por Aqui Series on the Nuevomexicano Literary Heritage

6 x 9 168 pages