Andrés
Montoya was educated at California State University in
Fresno, where he studied with Philip Levine. He went on to earn
his Master of
Fine Arts degree from the University of Oregon, where he studied
with Garrett Hongo. His work appeared in various literary journals,
including The Santa Clara Review, In the Grove, Bilingual
Review/Revista Bilingüe, and Flies, Cockroaches, and
Poets. His various occupations
included field hand, ditch digger, canner, ice plant worker, and
writing teacher.
He was the author of The
Iceworker Sings (Bilingual Press, 1999)—the
manuscript that won the 1997 Chicano/Latino Literary Prize at UC
Irvine. The judge was Francisco X. Alarcón. The collection
went on to win a Before Columbus Foundation American Book Award
in 2000. Born on May 18th, 1968, Andrés Montoya died on May
26th, 1999, at the age of 31. The co-founder of the Chicano Writers
and Artists Association, Montoya’s work continues to touch
many people. A
review of his book appears in Electronic Poetry Review #5.
Four poems from The
Iceworker Sings, courtesy of Bilingual Press
letter to sarah
contemplations from concrete: nine movements, # 1 scar
some days
the ice worker speaks of endings
