Junot diaz biography resumen ejecutivo

1. Biography of Junot Diaz
2. Early Life and Education
3. Notable Works
4. Recommended Work

Biography of Junot Diaz

Junot Diaz, the young American novelist and Pulitzer Prize winner in 2008, was born in the suburbs of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. He grew up in a family of Dominican immigrants, spending most of his childhood with his mother and grandparents while his father worked in the United States to support the family. In December 1974, Diaz immigrated to New Jersey, where he was reunited with his father.

Early Life and Education

Even in elementary school, Diaz was an avid reader and frequented the library, walking four miles to get there. In 1979, his father left the family, and a few months later, his older brother was diagnosed with leukemia, plunging the family into near-poverty. During this time, Diaz developed a fascination with apocalyptic books and films. He graduated from high school in 1987 and enrolled at Kin College at Rutgers University in New Jersey in 1992. After a year, he transferred to Rutgers College, specializing in English. In college, he became an active participant in various student organizations and was inspired by writers such as Toni Morrison and Sandra Cisneros, who influenced him to start writing. Diaz worked various jobs to pay for his education, including dishwasher, gas station attendant, and picnic table delivery. After earning his degree, Diaz became an editor at Rutgers University Press. In 1995, he graduated from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, where he wrote most of his first collection of short stories. Diaz was surprised to receive an invitation to attend Cornell, as he had not submitted his application. It turned out that his then-girlfriend had done it for him. Diaz is an active member of the Dominican community and teaches creative writing at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is also the fiction editor for Boston Review and a co-founder of the Voices of Our Nations Arts Foundation, which supports writers of color.

Notable Works

Diaz's first story was published in The New Yorker, which later included him in their list of the 20 leading writers of the 21st century. His work has also been published in The Paris Review, and four editions of The Best American Short Stories (1996, 1997, 1999, 2000), as well as Voices of Africa. His most acclaimed works include the short story collection "Drown" (1996) and the novel "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" (2007). Both received high praise from critics, and the novel won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. The stories in "Drown" depict the impoverished childhood of the narrator, growing up without a father in the Dominican Republic, and later his life in America with his overbearing older brother, weak and passive mother, and a father who struggles to play the role of a committed head of the family. This book showcases a full range of emotions and experiences a child and teenager must navigate. The collection includes stories such as "Ysrael," "Fiesta 1980," "Aurora," and many others, all highly acclaimed by critics and readers. Each story offers insights into different events in the protagonist's life, vividly portraying the fears and doubts of a young boy.

Recommended Work

Diaz's first novel, "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao," was published in September 2007. In addition to the Pulitzer Prize, it received numerous other awards, including the John Sargent Sr. First Novel Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Award for Best Novel in 2007, the Anisfield-Wolf Award for contributions to understanding racism and cultural diversity, the Dayton Literary Peace Price for Fiction in 2008, the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award for black writers in 2008, and the Massachusetts Book Prize for Best Fiction in 2008. The novel was also recognized as the best novel of 2007 by Time magazine and New York Magazine. Several other publications, such as the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Los Angeles Times, Village Voice, Christian Science Monitor, New Statesman, Washington Post, and Publishers Weekly, included the novel in their lists of the best books of 2007.