There are a number of writers’ houses throughout the country. There are houses devoted to the life and work of Mark Twain, Louisa May Alcott, William Faulkner, Edith Wharton, and Walt Whitman. I make no comparison, yet I am linked to these writers, and the writers even before them. The museum’s purpose is the preservation of my literary materials, which I offer as a gift to Fresno, my hometown. Fresno has been the setting for a good many of my novels, short stories, essays, and poems. My thirty-five plus books have sold nearly four million copies and my work has been featured in thirty million textbooks, so I figure there might be some curiosity regarding my writing life.

The Gary Soto Literary Museum is already set up on a West Fresno farm and will be open to tours beginning in spring 2009. Dates for visits will be posted here soon. In 2010 the museum will move to Fresno City College, as part of the renovated Old Administration Building. I began my writing life in 1972 as a student at Fresno City College and now feel gratified that I can offer my collection of memorabilia to that school, its most appropriate setting.