Victor Martinez (author)

Victor Martinez
Born	(1954-02-21)February 21, 1954 Fresno, California, U.S.
Died	February 18, 2011(2011-02-18) (aged 56) San Francisco, California, U.S.
Education	California State University, Fresno (BA) Stanford University (MFA)
Occupation(s)	Author, poet
Notable work	Parrot in the Oven: Mi Vida
Movement	Chicano Movement
Awards	National Book Award for Young People's Literature

Victor L. Martinez (February 21, 1954 – February 18, 2011) was an American poet and author. He won the 1996 U.S. National Book Award for Young People's Literature for his first novel, Parrot in the Oven: Mi Vida.^[1]

Martinez was the born in Fresno, California to Mexican migrant agricultural field workers of the Central Valley. He was one of twelve children.^[2] Victor attended California State University at Fresno and later obtained a graduate degree from Stanford University on a Wallace Stegner Creative Writing Fellowship. He began writing as a poet and published a book of poetry, "Caring for a House," in 1992. He was a member of Humanizarte, a collective of Chicano poets, and later of the Chicano/Latino Writers' Center of San Francisco.^[3] He supported himself with jobs as a welder, truck driver, firefighter, teacher, and office clerk.^[4] In February 2011, he died of lung cancer at age 56 in San Francisco.^[5][6]

Martinez and his first novel Parrot in the Oven: Mi Vida won a National Book Award in 1996.^{[1][7][8][9][10]}

Parrot was a semi-autobiographical account of a 14-year-old Mexican American boy growing up "in a world of gangs, violence and poverty" in the projects of Central Valley (California).^[3][6] Martinez wrote the novel for adults but an editor suggested promoting it in the young adult fiction market.^[6] It has been translated into languages including Spanish, Italian, Japanese, and German, and widely acclaimed by young people around the world.

• Caring for a House, Chusma House Publications, 1992, ISBN 978-0-9624536-4-9

• El loro en el horno: mi vida, Noguer y Caralt, 2003, ISBN 978-84-279-3238-8
• Parrot in the Oven: Mi Vida. HarperCollins. 1998. ISBN 978-0-06-447186-2.

• Roger Weingarten; Richard Higgerson, eds. (2003). "I'm Still Alive; Failed Teachers; Sisters; A Tiny Man of Print". Poets of the new century. David R. Godine Publisher. ISBN 978-1-56792-178-6.
• Gerald W. Haslam, ed. (1999). "Don't Forget". Many Californias: literature from the Golden State. University of Nevada Press. ISBN 978-0-87417-325-3.

• Victor Martinez at Library of Congress, with 3 library catalog records

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