Rubén Martínez (writer)

For other people with the same name, seeRubén MartínezandRueben Martinez.

Rubén Martínez(born 1962, Los Angeles) is a journalist, author, and musician. He is the son of Rubén Martínez, a Mexican American who worked as a lithographer, and Vilma Angulo, a Salvadoran psychologist.Among the themes covered in his works areimmigrant lifeandglobalization,the cultural and political history of Los Angeles (Martínez's hometown), the civil wars of the 1980s in Central America (his mother is a native ofEl Salvador), and Mexican politics and culture (he is a second-generationMexican-Americanon the father's side of his family). In August 2012 his bookDesert America: Boom and Bust in the New Old Westwas published by Metropolitan Books.

Rubén Martínez
Born	1962 Los Angeles, California
Notable works	Crossing Over: A Mexican Family on the Migrant Trail

Professional career

From 1988 until 1993, he was a writer and editor atLA Weekly,becoming the first Latino on staff there. Subsequently, he became a contributing essayist toNational Public Radio,and a TV host for the Los Angeles-based politics and culture series,Life & Times,for which he won anEmmy Award.

Martínez's books include:Flesh Life: Sex in Mexico(with Joseph Rodriguez, Powerhouse Books, 2006),The New Americans(New Press, 2004), a companion volume to thePBSseries of the same name,Crossing Over: A Mexican Family over the Migrant Trail(Metropolitan/Holt, 2001),East Side Stories(with Joseph Rodriguez, Powerhouse Books, 1998), andThe Other Side: Notes from the New L.A., Mexico City & Beyond(Vintage, 1993).

Rubén Martínez currently holds theFletcher JonesChair in Literature & Writing atLoyola Marymount Universityin Los Angeles, previously having taught at theUniversity of Houston's Creative Writing Program, theUniversity of California,Santa Barbara, andClaremont McKenna College.

Books

Desert America

His 2012 book,Desert America: Boom and Bust in the New Old West,reports on the world of "outrageous wealth and devastating poverty, sublime beauty and ecological ruin" that he found when he lived in northern New Mexico, Joshua Tree, California and Marfa, Texas. TheLos Angeles Timesreviewer, Hector Tobar, wrote, "Martínez treats all the people he writes about, and the places where they live, with the kind of profound respect all too rare among the legions of Western writers who have preceded him. The result is an emotional and intellectually astute portrait of communities long neglected and misunderstood by American literature."

Martínez, says ofVelarde, New Mexico,"I might add that I live in one of the poorest villages in one of the poorest counties in one of the poorest states and that the region’s heroin addiction is higher than anywhere else in the country, rural or urban.”

Crossing Over

Martínez's other major work,Crossing Over: A Mexican Family on the Migrant Trailappeared in 2001. Martínez followed a Mexican migrant clan, the Chavez family, from the smallMichoacántown ofCherán,Mexico, into and across the United States. Three of the Chavez's were killed in an accident resulting from a Border Patrol chase while they attempted to cross theborder.Martínez also traced the migrations of other families from Cheran, including the Tapias, Enriquezes, and Guzmans. Martínez followed these families as their journeys took them to California,Wisconsin,MissouriandArkansasin search of the better life. But Martínez found out that this is not what the immigrants necessarily find.

The New Americans

Rubén Martínez's bookThe New Americanswas written in 2004. Martínez wrote the book in the wake ofSeptember 11, 2001,when America's response to immigration changed immensely. Throughout the book he makes references toEllis Island,theStatue of Liberty,and "The New Colossus",the poem on the Statue of Liberty. Martínez wroteThe New Americansto show not only how America's view of immigration has changed, but also how immigration is changing America.

The book follows the story of seven families as they immigrate to the United States. One family is fromPalestine.The daughter of this family is marrying a second generation immigrant from Palestine that lives inChicago.Another family is in exile fromNigeria,and has been granted permission by the United States to move to Chicago. Two other immigrants are from theDominican Republic,and have come to the United States to play professional baseball. Another family is from Mexico, immigrating to California in order to make money. The last family immigrated fromIndiato California, to make more money than they would be able to make in India.

The New Americansalso brings to light many of the difficulties the immigrants face in the process of leaving their homeland and arriving in America. The book shows that the immigrants face problems such as racism, difficulty finding a job, difficulty acculturating, and the overwhelming sadness of leaving the land that they have always known.The New Americansis based on a PBS documentary series also namedThe New Americans.The book received many positive reviews.

Articles

Rubén Martínez has been featured in many literary magazines for his work. His articles have shown up in various magazines, and his interviews have also been widely published. Below are a few of his articles selected for easy online viewing.

• In his interview with Robert Birnbaum, Rubén Martínez tells of how he was nominated to work atHarvardin the field ofurban studies.Birnbaum talks a bit about Martínez's contract with PBS for his bookThe New Americans,and quickly moves on to his newest bookCrossing Over.After the book was completed, Martínez says he was shocked to find that the Mexicans he encountered in Norwalk are largely gone.
• The Minutemen Projectis a project in which volunteers show up on the border to help deal with Mexicans migrating into the United States. Martínez comments on the project in an interview with Julia Goldberg.
• "The Migrant Story" is an article written by Rubén Martínez, in which he encourages the reader to envision an immigrant briefing theUnited States Congresson our current immigration policy. This article requires a free and easy membership to be read in its entirety.
• "The Undocumented Virgen" is another article written by Martínez. He spent December 12, the birthday ofla Virgen de Guadalupe,at Our Lady Queen of Angels in downtown LA with many Mexican immigrants. He joins the celebration of la Virgen de Guadalupe's birthday, and illustrates just how important she is to Mexicans, even when they are many miles away from home.
• Another immigration interview with Rubén Martínez. This interview examines why exactly Rubén is so interested in writing about immigration, and why it is such a big deal in the United States.
• Benjamin Adair interviewed Rubén Martínez about his newest book,Crossing Over,on the radio. This webpage has a link to the actual radio interview, but also provides a textual overview of the important points throughout the conversation. It also contains some interesting photos of the accident scene fromCrossing Over.
• In another free membership required article, Rubén Martínez describes immigration from the standpoint of someone whose father and grandfather were immigrants. He describes what life is like being of Mexican and Salvadoran heritage while living in the United States. He also talks of how the process of crossing the border affects the immigrants' sense of identity.

Awards

Rubén Martínez has received multiple awards for his work. The awards he has received are the following: TheLannan Foundation fellowship,the Loeb Fellowship from Harvard University's Graduate School of Design, the "Freedom of Information Award" from theACLU,the "Greater Press Club of Los Angeles Award of Excellence", theLuis Lealaward from UC Santa Barbara, and an Emmy Award. The Lannan Foundation fellowship is given to a person whose "work inspires communities domestic and international that are struggling to uphold and defend their right to cultural freedom and diversity", (Lannan Foundation).Martínez won this award in 2002, for his nonfiction work,Crossing Over.In 2005, Martínez was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters (L.H.D.) degree fromWhittier College.

Other written works

• The Other Side: Notes From the New LA, Mexico City, and Beyond(1993), Vintage Books USA, New York
• "Technicolor" inHalf + Half: Writers on Growing Up Biracial + Bicultural(1998) Edited by Claudine Chiawei O'Hearn, Pantheon Books, New York
• Eastside Stories(with Joseph Rodriguez) (1998), Powerhouse Books, New York
• Crossing Over: A Mexican Family on the Migrant Trail(2001), Henry Holt and Company, New York
• The New Americans(2004), New Press, New York
• Flesh Life: Sex in Mexico City(with Joseph Rodriguez) (2006), Powerhouse Books, New York
• Desert America: Boom and Bust in the New Old West(2012)

External links

• rubenmartinez.la - Official website
• Loyola Marymount University – Ruben Martinez
• Los Angeles Review of Books- Daniel Olivas interviews Ruben Martinez