Fund: Professor Eliud Martinez Endowed Scholarship Fund in Creative Writing Department: Creative Writing Dept D01035 Purpose: Undergraduate Student Support Fund Purpose: This Endowed Fund shall be used to provide support to undergraduate students majoring in Creative Writing. BACKGROUND From Professor Susan Straight’s Memorial: It is with sadness that we mourn the passing of Dr. Eliud Martinez (1935-2020), Professor Emeritus of Creative Writing at UCR, artist and novelist, and beloved father, husband, friend and mentor to many. Born in Pflugerville, Texas, on January 21, 1935, Dr. Martinez served in the US Marine Corps in Japan, from 1953-56. He received a BFA degree in Studio Art and Art History from the University of Texas, Austin, did graduate work at Mexico’s National University from 1960-61, and received his PhD in English and Comparative Literature from Ohio University, in 1972. From 1972 to 1995, he taught at UCR in the Comparative Literature Program, chaired the Chicano Studies Program, and helped develop the Creative Writing Program. A specialist in the narrative cycle of the Mexican Revolution, with a special focus on Mariano Azuela, he published The Art of Mariano Azuela: Modernism in La malhora, El desquite, La luciernaga (1980), and ten years later, published a classic novel of the Chicano experience, Voice-Haunted Journey (Bilingual Press, 1990). He also edited the anthology American Identities: California Short Stories of Multiple Ancestries. In 1975 he introduced the first multi-ethnic literature course at UC Riverside, “Chicano Literature in Comparative Ethnic Perspective.” In 1985, he designed “Introduction to Race and Ethnicity,” a course that became a requirement for all students at UC Riverside. In 1991 his course “Creative Writing and Ancestry” also became a required course for majors and minors in Creative Writing. He continued after retirement to visit campus, to mentor younger writers, and to participate in Riverside’s writing community. Dr. Martinez will be remembered by his readers, former students, colleagues and friends as a man with a big smile, “an imagination as big as Texas,” a pioneer in Chicana and Chicano poetry and narrative, and a wonderful family man. His collection of short stories, Guero Guero: The White Mexican, will be published in 2021 by Inlandia Institute. He passed away on December 18, 2020, and is survived by his wife Elisse Martinez, his two daughters, and grandchildren General Purpose This Endowed Fund shall be used to provide support to undergraduate students majoring in Creative Writing Criteria and Selection Process Each recipient of the Martinez Scholarship will be an undergraduate student majoring in Creative Writing who demonstrates academic excellence and shows a commitment to the Chicanx or Latinx communities. Candidates will be asked to submit a 5-10 page writing sample (e.g. series of poems, one short story, or memoir piece) in addition to a one-page description detailing their extra-curricular activities and/or community service in the Chicanx or Latinx communities. The award will be administered by the College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences’ Creative Writing Department designee, the first of which will be family friend, Distinguished Professor, Susan Straight. A minimum award of $1000 can be given to one or multiple students. In years when there is no candidate who meets the criteria, awards will be held until the following year.