25 pages • 50 minutes read
Homecoming
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Further Reading & Resources
Related Poems
“Draft of Sonnet 33” by Julia Alvarez (1984)
The New York Public Library has digitized and displayed Alvarez’s handwritten edits to one of her sonnets. These sonnets, in their final form, appear in Homecoming along with the titular poem.
“New Clothes” by Julia Alvarez (1982)
The Poetry Foundation published Alvarez’s poem, “New Clothes,” in their magazine before it appeared in her first full-length poetry collection, Homecoming, alongside the titular poem.
“Four Poems by Pedro Mir” translated by Jonathan Cohen (2021)
Mir is one of the most famous and influential poets from the Dominican Republic. His work had a huge impact on Alvarez, as well as on most of the modern poets from the Dominican Republic.
Further Literary Resources
Something to Declare by Julia Alvarez (1998)
In addition to writing poetry and fiction, Alvarez published the above essay collection. It offers more insight into her life in the Dominican Republic and the US, as well as reflections on writing.
“How Julia Alvarez Wrote Her Many Selves Into Existence” by NPR (2021)
NPR reporter Carmen Molina Acosta interviews Alvarez about her poetry writing process.
“Stopping by with Julia Alvarez” by the Poetry Society of America
In this interview, Alvarez discusses books and poems that have inspired her, as well as politics and her personal life.
Merengue: Dominican Music and Identity by Paul Austerlitz (1997)
Gettysburg College made this excerpt from Austerlitz’s book publicly accessible online. It provides cultural context about one of the dances that Alvarez describes in “Homecoming.”
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