Pura Belpré Award
1 appearances
-
Edition 17 (2018) Winner
Ruth Behar
ルース・ベハール
Ruth Behar
Profile
- Gender
- Female
- Born
- Havana, Cuba
- Nationality
- Cuban-American
- Languages
- English, Spanish
- Religion
- Judaism
- Residence History
- Havana, Cuba → New York, USA → Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
Career
- Occupations
- Cultural Anthropologist, Writer
- Active Years
- 1977-2025
- Affiliations
- University of Michigan, Department of Anthropology
- Influenced By
- Clifford Geertz, Claude Lévi-Strauss
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wesleyan University | — | Undergraduate | B.A. | — | United States |
| Princeton University | — | Cultural Anthropology | Ph.D. | — | United States |
Wesleyan University
Undergraduate
Degree:
B.A.
Year of Graduation:
1977
Country:
United States
Princeton University
Cultural Anthropology
Degree:
Ph.D.
Year of Graduation:
1983
Country:
United States
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | MacArthur Fellowship | — | — | MacArthur Foundation | 受賞 |
| 2018 | Pura Belpré Award | Lucky Broken Girl | — | American Library Association | 受賞 |
| 2025 | Newbery Honor | Across So Many Seas | — | American Library Association | 名誉賞 |
MacArthur Fellowship
1988
Organization:
MacArthur Foundation
Result:
受賞
Pura Belpré Award
2018
Work:
Lucky Broken Girl
Organization:
American Library Association
Result:
受賞
Newbery Honor
2025
Work:
Across So Many Seas
Organization:
American Library Association
Result:
名誉賞
Awards & Nominations
Works
Major Works
Lucky Broken Girl
2017 Young Adult NovelMulticultural coming-of-age novel for young adults, based on the author's childhood in the 1960s. Ruthie Mizrahi and her family recently emigrated from Castro's Cuba to New York City. A horrific car accident leaves her in a body cast. As her world shrinks, her powers of observation grow.
ImmigrationRecoveryFriendshipArts
Traveling Heavy
2013 MemoirMemoir about her Cuban-American family, descended from Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews, exploring identity and belonging.
FamilyJewish IdentityCuba
The Vulnerable Observer
1996 Anthropological EssaysAnthropological essays arguing for the subjective nature of ethnography, advocating the 'vulnerable observer'.
SubjectivityEmotionAnthropology
Translated Woman
1993 AnthropologyStory of Esperanza, an Indian witch in Mexico, exploring borders and women's lives.
WomenFeminismBorders
An Island Called Home
2007 NonfictionQuest to understand Jewish Cuba and family roots through interviews and photography.
JewishDiasporaCuba
Bibliography
- The Presence of the Past in a Spanish Village: Santa María del Monte
- Translated Woman: Crossing the Border with Esperanza's Story
- Bridges to Cuba / Puentes a Cuba
- Women Writing Culture
- The Vulnerable Observer: Anthropology That Breaks Your Heart
- An Island Called Home: Returning to Jewish Cuba
- The Portable Island: Cubans at Home in the World
- Traveling Heavy: A Memoir in Between Journeys
- Lucky Broken Girl
- Letters from Cuba
- Tia Fortuna's New Home: A Jewish Cuban Journey
- Across So Many Seas
Adaptations
- Adio Kerida (Goodbye Dear Love): A Cuban-American Woman's Search for Sephardic Memories
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- Subjective narrativePersonal ethnographyEmotional anthropology
- Recurring Motifs
- Immigration experiencesJewish identityWomen's voicesCuban memoriesVulnerability
Health
-
Broken leg1960年代、9歳時Immobilized for a year, leading to recognition that 'the body is a homeland' of memory and pain
Legacy
Pioneering anthropologist advocating subjective 'vulnerable observer' approach, chronicling Cuban-Jewish experiences in literature. MacArthur Fellow (1988), acclaimed in children's literature.
Trivia
- First Latina woman to receive a MacArthur Fellowship in 1988.
- Part of the over 94% of Cuban Jews who left after the 1959 revolution.