Sabine Ulibarrí
Sabine Reyes Ulibarrí was a prominent academic, poet, and fiction writer known for his contributions to literature that reflect the Hispanic character of his native New Mexico. Born on September 21, 1919, in Tierra Amarilla, Ulibarrí grew up in an educated family that instilled in him a deep appreciation for the Spanish language and literature. After a successful high school career that included founding a literary and debate club, he earned a scholarship to the University of New Mexico. His life included service as a gunner in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II, for which he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.
He completed both his bachelor's and master's degrees at the university before pursuing a doctorate at UCLA, eventually becoming a professor and chair of the department of modern and classical languages. Ulibarrí's literary work includes poetry, short stories, and textbooks, with a focus on themes of love, identity, and cultural heritage, often expressed through the lens of Chicano identity. His notable works, such as "Tierra Amarilla: Stories of New Mexico" and "Mi abuela fumaba puros," highlight the customs and folklore of his hometown. Ulibarrí received numerous accolades throughout his life, including the Governor's Award for Excellence in Literature and the Hispanic Heritage Award, before passing away in 2003.
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Subject Terms
Sabine Ulibarrí
Writer
- Born: September 21, 1919
- Birthplace: Tierra Amarilla, New Mexico
- Died: January 4, 2003
- Place of death: Albuquerque, New Mexico
Biography
Sabine Reyes Ulibarrí was an academic, poet, and fiction writer who recorded the vanishing Hispanic character of his native New Mexico. He was born in Tierra Amarilla on September 21, 1919, into a large extended family whose roots in northern New Mexico were deep. Both his father, a rancher, and his mother were college-educated and impressed upon Ulibarrí a love for the Spanish language and for literature. The matriarch of the family, his austere grandmother, also profoundly influenced him, and he acquired an early industriousness and appetite for learning.
Although rebellious in high school, Ulibarrí attracted much positive local attention through the literary and debate club that he founded. It helped him win a scholarship to the University of New Mexico (UNM). While studying he also taught school at the Río Arriba County schools from 1938 to 1940 and the Spanish-American Normal School until 1942. That year, he married María Concepción Limón, a fellow student, and joined the U.S. Army Air Corps. He flew thirty-five missions as a gunner aboard a bomber in Europe, winning the Distinguished Flying Cross for his valor.
After his discharge in 1945, Ulibarrí returned to the university, completing a bachelor’s degree in English and Spanish in 1947 and a master’s degree in Spanish in 1949. He began teaching at his alma mater and then took a three-year leave to complete a doctorate at the University of California at Los Angeles in 1958. Ulibarrí retired in 1980 as the chair of UMN’s department of modern and classical languages. Earlier, however, he took leave several times to set up and administer language schools, including the National Defense Education Act Language Institute in Quito, Ecuador. A leader in his field, he was elected president of the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese in 1969. Ulibarrí died in 2003.
A versatile writer, Ulibarrí published Spanish-language textbooks, a study of Spanish poet Juan Ramón, a memoir about his war experiences, and a book about Chicano identity and struggle in an Anglo-dominated culture, but he is most widely known for his poetry and short stories. Although he composed these entirely in Spanish, he frequently published bilingual editions of his work, winning him an extensive readership. His finely crafted poetry considers themes of love and identity, often with a melancholy overtone, but also insists upon the importance of heritage. In his short stories, particularly in Tierra Amarilla: Stories of New Mexico and the bilingual Mi abuela fumaba puros, y otros cuentos de Tierra Amarilla/My Grandma Smoked Cigars, and Other Stories of Tierra Amarilla, he gave life to the heritage and the place he knew best, his Spanish-centered hometown. The stories tell of typical characters in the style of costumbrismo, a literary genre blending customs, folklore, and local color.
Much honored, Ulibarrí was named a distinguished citizen of Quito and appointed a North American correspondent by the Royal Academy of the Spanish Language. He also received the Governor’s Award for Excellence in Literature (1988) and the Hispanic Heritage Award (1989).