Julia Alvarez, the second of four daughters, was born on March 27, 1950, in New York City, but her parents soon returned to their native Dominican Republic, where her father, a doctor, was actively involved in the underground movement against the authoritarian regime of General Rafael Trujillo. However, due to his involvement in this resistance, the Alvarez family was forced to flee the Dominican Republic in August 1960 and resettle permanently in New York.
At the tender age of thirteen, Julia Alvarez was sent by her parents to Abbot Academy, a prestigious private boarding school for girls, where she spent her formative years. Her academic prowess was evident early on, as she won the school's poetry prize during her time there.
Alvarez's higher education took her to Connecticut College in 1967, where she won the school's poetry prize and began to hone her writing skills. She then transferred to Middlebury College in Vermont, earning a bachelor of arts degree, summa cum laude, in 1971. Her academic achievements did not go unnoticed, as she earned a master of fine arts degree at Syracuse University in 1975.
In addition to her literary pursuits, Alvarez has been professionally involved in education for nearly a quarter of a century. She has taught creative writing to schoolchildren in Kentucky, bilingual students in Delaware, and senior citizens in North Carolina from 1975 to 1978. Her teaching experience also includes stints at Phillips Andover Academy in Massachusetts, the University of Vermont, George Washington University, and the University of Illinois.
Since 1988, Alvarez has been a professor of English and Creative Writing at her alma mater, Middlebury College, where she has won numerous grants and awards and has seen her work published in several anthologies. In her personal life, Alvarez married ophthalmologist Bill Eichner on June 3, 1989, and has continued to write and teach with passion and dedication.
