Alurista

Alberto Baltazar Urista Heredia, known as Alurista, is a Chicano poet and activist. He was born in Mexico City and moved to San Diego with his family at the age of 13. He earned a BA in psychology and MA in literature from San Diego State University, and a PhD in literature from University of California, San Diego.

Alurista is one of the first poets to blend English and Spanish languages in his writing, as well as various slangs of both. He is the author of many books, including Xicano Duende: A Select Anthology (2011), Tunaluna (2010), As our barrio turns: who the yoke b on? (2000), Z Eros (1995), and Et Tu ... Raza? (1995). He has written many essays and literary criticisms on the Chicano Movement and on Chicano culture, which have been widely published in anthologies, journals, and newspapers.

Alurista is the cofounder of multiple academic and community organizations, such as Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán at San Diego State University, Concilio por la Justicia, Centro Cultural de la Raza, and the Department of Chicano Studies at San Diego State University. He has taught at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, California, Escuela Tlatelolco in Denver, Colorado, and at the University of Texas at Austin. He has also lectured and read his poetry in venues throughout the world. His papers are held at University of Texas, Austin and at the California Ethnic and Multicultural Archives.