Professor Rita Urquijo-Ruiz specializes in Spanish, Latinx cultural and LGBTQ+ studies and has been a part of the Trinity community for over 18 years. Currently, she is the chair of the department of modern languages and literatures and a professor of Spanish and Latinx studies.
She teamed up with Washington State history professor Linda Heidenreich to write their new book, “Writing that Matters: a Handbook for Chicanx and Latinx Studies,” which she published on March 26, 2024. This book is a guide to anyone who wants to study Latinx culture at any level with a mixture of history and social themes throughout the guide.
“She is a historian by training and I am in literature and culture, so we wanted to combine both sides and be able to create a book that would be a little handbook for students that are taking these kinds of studies,” Urquijo-Ruiz said.
Urquijo-Ruiz was inspired by the writing prompts in the First-Year Experience course Inventing Mexico, which Urquijo-Ruiz previously taught. She also put an emphasis on popular authors that students should be familiar with and learning how to write on their level for Latinx studies. In addition, the book was made for students of all ages, from early highschool all the way up to graduate students.
“We wanted to throw out a really big net to hopefully have this book be helpful to any student that is learning how to write, but at the same time also learning about themselves and their literature, culture and identity,” Urquijo-Ruiz said.
The book recently won a National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies award. Specifically, Urquijo-Ruiz and Heidenreich won the Chicano Feminist Caucus award, which is awarded to female authors whose Latinx literature goes above and beyond. “Writing that Matters” includes various helpful tools for students, such as grammar exercises and tips on doing interviews in a Latinx cultural setting. Urquijo-Ruiz said that the most important parts of the book are the example essays from her FYE and from Heidenreich’s history class. She also asks for people who want to purchase the book to do so through the publisher and not from big corporations.
“We ask for people to try to get it from the publisher as it is always nicer to give the money to them instead of Amazon, but you can find it anywhere books are sold,” Urquijo-Ruiz said.
Urquijo-Ruiz also wanted the book to be affordable and accessible to everyone, so only paperback copies were released to make the book as easy to get as possible.
“We wanted it to be a book that students can pick up and take with them and write everywhere and highlight,” Urquijo-Ruiz said.
She also asked a local artist to illustrate the book, with many black-and-white drawings scattered throughout the paperback.
“We have images where hopefully Latinx students can see themselves represented in the book,” Urquijo-Ruiz said. “We wanted the book to be something fun that’s not just a stale handbook on writing.”
NACCS recently named the award after professor Catriona Rueda Esquibel, who sadly passed away before Urquijo-Ruiz received the award.
“Because I had known Catriona and loved working with her, it’s really meaningful that this award was named after her,” Urquijo-Ruiz said. “When I received the congratulatory email I was just so moved and excited that not only this was a national award from the NACCS, but it was named after a dear mentor and friend.”
