This week, TheLatinoAuthor.com is featuring Richard Yañez. Mr. Yañez is a talented writer and an associate professor of English at El Paso Community College. He has published two novels, both through the University of Nevada Press, and also has several stories and essays that have been anthologized. Read our interview and see how he taps into his life source of knowledge to bring some wonderful stories to the forefront.
Can you tell us about yourself; where you grew up, where you currently reside, etc.?
I was born in El Paso, Texas, specifically the Lower Valley. As evident in my writing, El Paso (also known as “El Chuco”) is a landscape that has given me many stories and served as a rich canvas for my imagination. As important as the desert setting, the communities (Mexican-American, working-class, Catholic) of my birth place are celebrated in my work.
Having spent most of my youth in El Paso, I longed to escape “Hell Paso,” another one of its mythical identities. Beginning with my studies at New Mexico State University in 1995, my growing passion for writing pulled me away from home. This literary journey took me through Arizona, Colorado, Ohio, and Indiana. In the years that I migrated from state to state, I wrote the bulk of my published work. The fellowships and teaching posts I held during that time made it possible for the writer in me to fully take shape.
In 2003, coinciding with the publication of my first book and my marriage to the Chicana poet, Carolina Monsiváis, I returned to the borderlands. While I always missed the warm spaces of the Chihuahuan Desert, I feel blessed that I had the opportunity to experience the necessary distance—spiritual as well as spatial—to document the lives I witness(ed) on the Frontera.
Presently, I live and work in close proximity to Lower Valley El Paso. Given that many authors from El Paso weren’t able to live and work here as artists, I feel very lucky to be able to return home (for now).
Presently, you are a tenured Professor of English at El Paso Community College. In addition, you have also written a novel, and a collection of stories of the border. Which of these professions, professor or writer, do you prefer or are they equal in how they feed your soul? Please elaborate.
This is a great question since they both seem so closely tied to each other. Although the writer’s life was what I first pursued, the vocation of teaching provided me with boundless paths of learning. Recently, when EPCC selected me to receive a state teaching award, I wrote a short essay about my academic mentors. I wasn’t surprised that I have strong memories of so many wonderful teachers. Their nurturing spirits empowered me in the classroom, which is what I most hope for with my students.
Since I teach all levels of writing, from composition to creative writing, I feel that being a published writer is essential to my teaching. In fact, my students always seem more interested in the stories (sometimes chisme) of my personal writing life than any technical elements. Over twelve years of teaching, I feel that I have been able to develop my role as a storyteller in stride with my role as an instructor. This does not surprise me since two of my biggest influences—on and off the page—are Denise Chávez and Kevin McIlvoy. They are great examples of how a writer needs to be both student and teacher. I am grateful for the cariño and willingness that they showed me.
Did the “want” of writing begin after you began your career as a professor or was this something that you have always wanted to do?
I remember coming home one day from Valle View Jr. High and beginning my first journal. It was a green, spiral notebook where I recorded the most mundane of events from the day. My meditative nature first took shape in the ruled lines of that notebook and continues to this day.
The “want” to write then went from private journal entries to more personal writing with girlfriends and then to published stories in my high school newspaper. I was very proud to see my name in bylines of Ysleta High School’s Pow Wow. The positive reception I received from my peers and teachers helped build my confidence along the way.
In college, I imagined myself publishing cool articles on music and pop culture for Rolling Stone Magazine. While I did well in college writing classes and took a few journalism courses, I had a personal experience when I was twenty-one that completely changed my future.
One Sunday afternoon, my maternal grandmother suffered a stroke while living in our home. And like the many details of that day, the next fifteen months she remained in a stupor were also hard to forget no matter how hard I tried. The loving Mexican woman who helped raise me was confined to a bed, silent and motionless. I considered the countless visits to the hospital and nursing home a cruel punishment. My witness of her slow demise was a powerful lesson in sacrifice.
While I am able to share the testimonio of this loss, I have always struggled to fully capture it in my writing. My first published story, “Holy Water which is also my most anthologized piece, does include some details of this painful experience.the presence of the past.
How much research do you conduct for your books, or are they based more on personal experience?
I am a strong believer in “Art is the Lie that tells the Truth” (a quote I first heard credited to Pablo Picasso). Fiction is my favorite form of sharing stories. Still, anyone who knows me, especially my family, will tell you that my published work is based on personal experiences. My first book pays tribute not only to my family but also to other men, women, teens, and children who I witness(ed) living in/on the border. If I do any “research,” it is simply entering, sometimes trespassing, into the liminal worlds of Chicanos/Mejicanos. It shouldn’t surprise any of my readers that I composed many pages in public spaces, especially restaurants.
How much time do you devote to your novel writing profession? Do you foresee yourself as always being a fiction writer versus a non-fiction writer or could that change in the future?
As one can imagine, my heavy teaching load, as well as my community organizing and activism, now limits my writing time. I have great respect for writers who do balance their professional responsibilities better than I do. The truth is that I go through slow periods of creating and then hit a steady stride. As I tell my students, if you want to write, you will make time.
I feel most at home writing fiction, as I mentioned earlier. However, I have been working on a non-fiction project. It is a combination of personal essays, writing exercises, and hybrid pieces that I refer to as an auto-ethnography titled Beyond Italics: The Work and Witness of a Chicano Writer.
What challenges did you face to get your book published? What advice can you give our readers on best approach, etc.?
I took a somewhat traditional route to having my first book of stories published. Having studied at NMSU and Arizona State University, I had the guidance of many established writers, such as, Robert Boswell, Ron Carlson, and Alberto Ríos. Also, there were many talented peers (Robert Wilder, Tayari Jones, Oliver de la Paz) who I shared countless workshops and dialogues with at both writing programs.
From those years, I was able to spend as much time learning about the profession of writing as I did the technical work required. I continually learned that hard work is often more important than pure talent. I also developed a confidence that kept me going despite a good share of rejections. And luck never hurts. My relationship with the University of Nevada Press, who has published both of my books, began when the editor I sent it to left my manuscript on her desk when she moved to another press. Fortunately, the incoming editor took it upon herself to read it and contact me.
My advice for all writers is to develop trust in your own voice and vision. And if you are able, find a community that challenges and celebrates your work. Whether this is at your local community center/library or an academic writing program, you must remain passionate at all cost. And altars of your sacred tools (family photos, important books, lasting images) are a must. Rituals become risks.
What lessons learned did you take away from writing your first book, El Paso del: Stories on the Border, to writing your second book, Cross Over Water: A Novel?
Other than reading as much as I could to refine my discovery of language and rhythm, I did have a personal objective from one project to the next.
During the review of my first manuscript, it was pointed out that my eight stories included very few female characters. And the ones that were mentioned were either absent, sick, or dead. I was initially surprised but then reasoned that this mirrored my life at the time of writing the stories. When one moves around as much as I did, it is hard to develop any relationships, especially romantic ones. In reflection, I later realized that the silence of my grandmother’s stupor lent voice to my stories as well.
With this in mind, I consciously wanted to write a strong female character for my second book. And based on various responses, I believe that I succeeded in the writing of Cross Over Water. The main story centers on Raul Luis “Ruly” Cruz, a curious child of the border, but Laura, his older cousin is the tether that keeps him in orbit. Together, they learn about the geographies of their bodies, their emotions, and their culture. I feel good about having addressed a limitation in my writing and await the next challenge.
Your biography lists that you are a founding Advisory Circle Member of Con Tinta, a collective of Chicano/Latino activist writers. Can you tell us a little bit about this organization and its mission?
In 2005, my ally and compa, Rigoberto González and I initiated Con Tinta after many years of sharing ideas, frustrations, and dreams for the Chicano/Latino literary community. One of our main goals was to celebrate our present successes with respect to our literary antepasados.
With the help of our peers, we formed an Advisory Circle to help coordinate our efforts. Past C/T members have included Daniel A. Olivas, Kathleen Alcalá, Brenda Cárdenas, and Michelle Otero. Coinciding with the annual Association of Writers and Writing Programs conference, C/T has honored many luminaries in different cities across the country. At our inaugural event in Austin in March 2006, we honored our first two literary award recipients: Raul R. Salinas and Rolando Hinojosa-Smith. Since then, C/T’s annual Celebration has become an anticipated event that reflects the host site as much as the honorees (Judith Ortiz-Cofer in Atlanta, Abelardo “Lalo” Delgado in Denver, and Sandra María Esteves in New York City).
We feel that these gatherings have given us an important space within and outside of the mainstream literary landscape. The Chicano/Latino authors, as well as many allies, who have attended C/T’s Pachangas (as the annual events are often referred to) have experienced invaluable connections, as much personal as professional.
In March of this year, I left the main Advisory Circle and now make small contributions when I can. I look forward to the growth of C/T under the guidance of current members. What I am most proud of is that C/T has left ripples in many capacities, especially without the support of any institution or agency. All our celebrations, initiatives, and recognitions resulted from faith in a collective voice. You can learn more about Con Tinta at https://www.facebook.com/continta.
What projects or books are you currently working on that you would like to share with our audience? Are there any upcoming events in the near horizon?
In addition to working on the non-fiction project I mentioned earlier, I have started a young adult novel, presently titled The Other Bobby. Although I never imagined that I would write for a specific audience, I have been inspired by the YA novels of fellow Chicano writers Benjamin Alire Sáenz, Diana López, Rene Saldaña, and others. I see great potential in the always complicated lives of young people. And since most popular media that features young people excludes the Mexican American experience, I think it is important that literature help fill in the gaps.
The Other Bobby is dedicated to my nephews and my son who hold such beautiful promise for the next generation. From the rock `n’ roll records my father shared to the mix tapes of my generation, my hope is that my novel will connect readers to the rhythms of what matters most.
In addition to my writing, I am also the current fiction editor for BorderSenses (www.bordersenses.com). In addition publishing a literary journal, BorderSenses has grown into an important agent of change through its work with farm workers, bilingual learners, and community performers. I hope to bridge this work with another new project. I am part of a team that is working to bring the Puente Program (www.puente.net), long successful in California colleges, to Texas. In the fall, groups from El Paso, south Texas, and San Antonio will be working to implement the Puente system into our college system. Our hope is to increase the success of college students in their early years so that they may graduate and transfer to universities.
In the fall, I am scheduled to visit with writing students at Colorado State University-Pueblo, be the featured reader during the Share Our Strength benefit in Las Cruces, New Mexico, and present workshops at the Microburst Writers’ Conference. I always look forward to each opportunity to connect with more readers and writers. Each time I take my stories of living on the border to other locations, the return journey becomes even more sacred.
Visit me at: http://richardyanez.tumblr.com!
