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Celebrating Hispanic Heritage with Revista Chicano-Riqueña

By Rose Miyatsu

September 15 through October 15 is Hispanic Heritage Month, and we are celebrating by highlighting some of the materials in our collections that are related to Hispanic culture and history. To kick of the month, we will be looking at a very influential journal Revista Chicano-Riqueña, or Chicano-Puerto Rican Review.

A 1978 cover of Revista Chicano- Riqueña, featuring a photograph by Geno Rodriguez. Volume 6, number 3.

Revista Chicano- Riqueña was the first national magazine of US Hispanic literature. It was initially published in 1973 out of Indiana University Northwest by Nicolás Kanellos and Luis Dávila to provide a much-needed outlet for the creative work of Hispanic writers, who were not being picked up by the mainstream press. The magazine published poetry, essays, and short fiction in both Spanish and English, as well as visual artwork by Hispanic artists.

Revista Chicano- Riqueña published many notable and influential Hispanic writers. Above, the table of contents from the anthology edition published in 1982 for the journal’s tenth anniversary lists Rudolfo Anaya (author of Bless Me, Ultima), Jimmy Santiago Baca (a poet whose memoir A Place to Stand has been taught in some Writing One courses here at Wash U), Miguel Algarin, Gary Soto, and many others.

The cover of a special women’s issue of Revista Chicano- Riqueña. Cover photo “Una Poeta Chilena” by  Malú Alberro. Vol. 6, no.2, Spring 1978.

Publishing Hispanic Women Writers

Revista Chicano- Riqueña was heavily influential in launching the careers of a number of Hispanic feminist authors. Poets like Lorna Dee Cervantes, Sandra Cisneros, and Ana Castillo were virtually unknown before publishing with the magazine gave them their start. After publishing with Revista in 1974, Cervantes went on to found and edit her own literary magazine, Mango, which frequently published women writers.

Two poems by Castillo from the 1982 Winter/Spring issue of Revista Chicano- Riqueña. Vol. 10, no. 1/2.

Arte Publico Press

In 1979, the magazine founded its own literary press, Arte Publico Press to further their mission of bringing Hispanic authors into the mainstream. The press was the original publisher of Sandra Cisneros’ seminal The House on Mango Street, and it has also published the works of best-selling authors like Nicholasa Mohr, Victor Villaseñor, and Helena María Viramontes. Although Revista Chicano- Riqueña ceased publication in 1999, Arte Publico Press still exists today and continues to publish the works of Hispanic writers and artists.

The 1982 Winter/Spring Anthology issue of Revista Chicano- Riqueña. Vol. 10, no. 1/2.

Revista Chicano- Riqueña in Special Collections

The Julian Edison Department of Special Collections currently holds selected volumes of Revista Chicano- Riqueña from 1975 through 1982, including the special 1982 anthology edition published for the journal’s ten-year anniversary. For more resources about Hispanic literature, heritage, and culture, please see our Chicano Poetry Library Guide and our Latino/a Studies Library Guide.

Sources

  • “About Arte-Publico Press.” https://artepublicopress.com. 2014.
  • Kanellos, Nicolás. Hispanic Literature of the United States: A Comprehensive Reference. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2003.