Tomás Rivera was born in Crystal City, Texas, in 1935 to Mexican American parents. Migrant laborers, they traversed the South and Midwest each year in search of enough work to support the family. Rivera later wanted to relate his experiences growing up as a migrant worker but felt reluctant to write in English—a language he did not consider fully expressive of his emotions. His dilemma was solved by Quinto Sol Publications, one of the first companies to publish in Spanish and English: “When I learned that Quinto Sol accepted manuscripts in Spanish, it liberated me. I knew that I could fully express myself as I wanted” (Rivera in Lomelí and Shirley, p. 207). Rivera submitted . . . and the earth did not part to a literary contest sponsored by Quinto Sol and was awarded first prize. The company published the work in Spanish that year (1970), then issued a bilingual edition in 1971. The novel managed for the first time to portray the overlooked experience of Mexican and Mexican American migrants in the United States.
Migrant labor.
