Fernando Alegrķa grew up in the Independencia barrio of Santiago de Chile. This barrio was filled with the dreams of immigrants from all over the world and gave birth to the lyrical voices of Pablo Neruda, Violeta Parra, Volodia Teitelboim and gave Alegrķa not only his voice but also his indomitable spirit of rebellion and sense of national identity.

As an academic, visionary, writer and revolutionary, Alegrķa brought prestige and legitimacy to the Spanish language in the United States of America at a time when children were punished in schools for speaking their native tongues. Fernando Alegrķa's works, both factual or fictional, capture the spirit of the people and places they depict. His gift of being able to articulate the feelings of people and to do so in a witty, reflective and lyrically beautiful manner has endeared Alegrķa to his countrymen and earned him recognition from many literary and cultural icons such as Thomas Mann, Allen Ginsberg, Angela Davis and Joan Baez.