Rudolfo Anaya's 'Bless Me, Ultima” to be made into an opera

Rudolfo Anaya's famed novel "Bless Me, Ultima," one of the most recognizable works of Mexican-American Literature, is being made into an opera.

National Hispanic Cultural Center in Albuquerque announced this week it is collaborating with Opera Southwest to commission the work based on Anaya's book about a New Mexico boy and a traditional healer.

The opera will be written by California-based composer Hector Armienta and is slated to be produced in 2018.

Center executive director Rebecca Avitia says "Bless Me, Ultima" is a magic piece of literature that she can see as an opera production.

Avitia says she hopes the project will draw more Latinos to opera.

Experts say Anaya's novel sparked the Chicano literary movement in the late 1960s and influenced a generation of Latino writers.