New releases from UW alumni Peter Bacho and Ricardo Ruiz
Viewpoint Magazine highlights two new books from the UW community.
Uncle Rico’s Encore: Mostly True Stories of Filipino Seattle
Peter Bacho, ’74, ’81
University of Washington Press, May 2022
UW Law alum Peter Bacho is an American Book Award-winner for his work exploring themes of Filipino American experience and identity. His 1991 novel, “Cebu,” brought his engaging and insightful storytelling into national view. Now he has crafted a memoir that opens views into the lives of those of Filipino descent who landed in or grew up in Seattle. The stories of love and resilience unfold in the Central District, the Chinatown International District and Rainier Valley from the 1950s to the 1970s. His material spans Alaska cannery workers, union activism, memories of family, community and his own childhood.
We Had Our Reasons: Poems by Ricardo Ruiz and Other Hardworking Mexicans From Eastern Washington
Ricardo Ruiz, ’20
Pulley Press, May 2022
Though he came to the UW to study business, Ricardo Ruiz was drawn to creative writing and found his calling. As an intern with Frances McCue, a teaching professor who was starting a new poetry imprint for Clyde Hill Press, he helped develop the imprint’s focus to discover and encourage poetry from rural America. The Pulley Press imprint seeks poems and poets from the less-visited parts of our country, “beyond bright, shining cities.”
That editing and publishing experience, along with his own interests and talent, led to a book contract with the new press to develop “We Had Our Reasons.” The collection draws upon Ruiz’s own experience as a first-generation Mexican American growing up in Eastern Washington and the stories shared with him by members of his community. The poems, in Spanish and English, come with biographies and details that highlight the people whose voices he shares.