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Loyola Marymount University's Biography Resource Center

 

Angela De Hoyos

Angela De Hoyos was born on Jan. 23, 1940 in Coahuila, Mexico. When De Hoyos was three-years old, she suffered severe burns from a gas heater, creating wounds on her chest and neck. At the same age, her family moved to San Antonio, Texas. She was able to attend grade school and private secondary school, but began to receive private instruction when she became poor in health. When De Hoyos was a child, her mother would recite poetry to her, which inspired and compelled her to compose her own stories in rhyme. When De Hoyos was a high school student, she had a variety of her poems published in the school newspaper.

In the 1960s, De Hoyos was in her early twenties, she started winning international recognition as a poet. In the late 1960s, she became heavily influenced by the Chicano movement and created poems on sociopolitical themes and received invitations to recite her poems at different centers throughout the southwest in the United States. Interestingly, although De Hoyos was recognized as a creative Chicana poet whose name had appeared in different literary journals, it was not until 1975 that her poetry was published in book format. Arise, Chicano! And Other Poems, Chicano Poems for the Barrio, and Poems/Poemas (Buenos Aires) emerged. De Hoyos has been universally accepted as one of the most important Chicana poets.