The annual Tomás Rivera Conference, initiated in 1988, honors the legacy of Tomás Rivera by providing an international forum for reflection on the contributions of Chicanos and Latinos in the worlds of the arts, literature, creative writing, culture, business, medicine, and education. The Symposium is purposefully cross-disciplinary, bridging the disciplines to highlight and explore the diversity of issues and concerns that are important to the Latino community as well as the community-at-large.
The Tomás Rivera Conference is free and open to the public. We hope you'll join us Thursday, October 15 for another fantastic event!
Luis Valdez
Writer and Director of Zoot Suit, La Bamba, and subject of the documentary American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez
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Luis Valdez Biography
Luis Valdez, award-winning Latinx playwright and director, is considered the father of Latinx theatre. He was born in Delano, California to migrant farmworker parents. His family lived around Northern California before settling down in San Jose. He attended San Jose State University where he originally majored in Mathematics and Physics before switching to English and graduated in 1964. After college, Valdez started to work with the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee and the National Farm Workers Association where he would write plays that highlighted farmworkers’ struggle. In 1965, Valdez created El Teatro Campesino (The Farmworkers Theater) which stands as the longest running Chicano theater in the United States. His plays include Zoot Suit, Valley of the Heart, Mummified Deer, I Don’t Have to Show You No Stinking Badges, and Los Vendidos. Zoot Suit stands as the first Chicano play to be produced on Broadway. Valdez is also a theater and film director. He directed all the world premieres of his plays, as well as the film adaptation of Zoot Suit stands as the first Chicano play to be produced on Broadway. Valdez has received honorary doctorates from the University of Rhode Island, the University of South Florida, Cal Arts, the University of Santa Clara, and San Jose State University. He has received the National Medal of Arts, the Peabody Award, the Aguila Azteca award, and has been nominated for a Golden Globe in recognition for his work.
In 2016, Luis Valdez won the 2015 National Medal of Arts and Humanities. This was awarded to him by President Obama.This award was created in 1985 and awarded every year since then except from 2016-2018. It is given by the current President to individuals who “are deserving of special recognition by reason of their outstanding contributions to the excellence, growth, support and availability of the arts in the United States.”
Severo Pérez
Director of ...y no se lo tragó la tierra (...and the Earth Did Not Swallow Him)
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Severo Pérez Biography
Award-winning filmmaker, novelist, and playwright Severo Perez grew up in Westside San Antonio Texas. He attended parochial and public schools. Unsure of what to do with his life, he enrolled at San Antonio College, a two-year community college—the best thing he could ever have done. There, he met lifelong friends and confirmed his interest in writing and the arts. He graduated from the University of Texas, Austin, where his writing and playwriting workshops introduced him to cinema as the literature of the time. His memoir, Filmmaker’s Journey (Texas A&M Press, 2024) chronicles his career and 21-year effort to adapt Tomas Rivera’s masterpiece, …y no se lo trago la tierra to the motion picture screen.
Meet the Chair
Alex Espinoza
Associate Professor, Department of Creative Writing
Tomás Rivera Endowed Chair
Support the Tomás Rivera Conference
Your generosity helps us keep the Tomás Rivera Conference free to attend and open to the public. A tax-deductible gift at any level will help us achieve significant growth by enhancing the honoraria for the authors, expanding promotion and production capabilities, and sponsoring workshops. Become a patron of the Tomás Rivera Conference by making a gift today!
Make a Gift
Book Purchases
Books can be purchased from our own campus B&N bookstore.
Visit Cellar Door Books to support our recommended local independent store.