Matt Raymond from the Library of Congress speaks with Julia Alvarez, who will appear at the 2009 National Book Festival on September 26, 2009, on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

Biography

Although Julia Alvarez was born in New York City, her family moved to the Dominican Republic shortly after her birth, where she spent the majority of her childhood. In 1960, when Alvarez was 10, her family returned to the United States, fleeing the Dominican Republic because of her father’s involvement in an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the dictator Rafael Trujillo. Alvarez calls herself an American, yet her writing bridges the realms of Latina and American culture. Alvarez’s latest books include Return to Sender (2009) and Once Upon a Quinceañera: Coming of Age in the USA (2007).