Sergio Troncoso

Fiction Writer, Creative Nonfiction Writer

New York, NY
New York US
Website: 
www.SergioTroncoso.com
Twitter/X: 
@SergioTroncoso
RSS feed: 
chicolingo.blogspot.com/

Author's Bio

Sergio Troncoso is the author of Nobody's Pilgrims, A Peculiar Kind of Immigrant's Son, The Last Tortilla and Other Stories, Crossing Borders: Personal Essays, The Nature of Truth and From This Wicked Patch of Dust; and as editor, Nepantla Familias: An Anthology of Mexican American Literature on Families in between Worlds and Our Lost Border: Essays on Life amid the Narco-Violence.

He often writes about the United States-Mexico border, working-class immigrants, families and fatherhood, crossing cultural, psychological, and philosophical borders, and the border beyond the border.

Troncoso teaches at the Yale Writers’ Workshop in New Haven, Connecticut. A past president of the Texas Institute of Letters, he has also served as a judge for the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction and the New Letters Literary Awards in the Essay category. His work has appeared in Pleiades, Texas Highways, CNN Opinion, Houston Chronicle, Other Voices, New Letters, Yale Review, Michigan Quarterly Review, and Texas Monthly.

The son of Mexican immigrants, Troncoso was born and grew up on the east side of El Paso, Texas in rural Ysleta. He graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College and received two graduate degrees in international relations and philosophy from Yale University. A Fulbright scholar, he was inducted into the Hispanic Scholarship Fund's Alumni Hall of Fame, Texas Institute of Letters, and Texas Literary Hall of Fame.

Among the numerous literary awards Troncoso has won are the Kay Cattarulla Award for Best Short Story, Premio Aztlan Literary Prize, Gold Medal for Best Novel-Adventure or Drama from International Latino Book Awards, Bronze Award for Anthologies from Independent Publisher Book Awards, Gold Medal for Best Collection of Short Stories from International Latino Book Awards, Southwest Book Award, Bronze Award for Essays from ForeWord Reviews, and the Silver Award for Multicultural Adult Fiction from ForeWord Reviews.

The El Paso City Council voted unanimously to rename the public library branch in Ysleta as the Sergio Troncoso Branch Library.

His literary papers are archived at The Wittliff Collections in San Marcos, Texas.

Literary agent: 
Jennifer Thompson

Publications & Prizes

Creative Nonfiction

Anthologies:
Nepantla Familias: An Anthology of Mexican American Literature on Families in between Worlds (Texas A&M University Press, 2021)
,
We Wear the Mask: Fifteen True Stories of Passing in America (Beacon Press, 2017)
,
New Border Voices: An Anthology (Texas A&M University Press, 2014)
,
Writing for Life: Paragraphs and Essays (Pearson Longman, 2013)
,
Writing for Life: Sentences and Paragraphs (Pearson Longman, 2013)
,
Nuestra Aparente Rendicion (Grijalbo - Random House Mondadori, 2011)
Books:
Our Lost Border: Essays on Life amid the Narco-Violence (Arte Público Press, 2013)
,
Crossing Borders: Personal Essays (Arte Público Press, 2011)

Fiction

Anthologies:
You Don't Have A Clue: Latino Mystery Stories for Teens (Arte Público Press, 2011)
,
Camino del Sol: Fifteen Years of Latina and Latino Writing (University of Arizona Press, 2010)
,
Hit List: The Best of Latino Mystery (Arte Público Press, 2009)
,
Literary El Paso (Texas Christian University Press, 2009)
,
Hecho En Tejas: An Anthology of Texas Mexican Literature (University of New Mexico Press, 2006)
,
Latino Boom: An Anthology of U.S. Latino Literature (Pearson Longman, 2006)
,
Once Upon A Cuento (Curbstone Press, 2003)
,
City Wilds: Essays and Stories about Urban Nature (University of Georgia Press, 2002)
,
New World: Young Latino Writers (Dell, 1997)
Books:
Nobody's Pilgrims (Lee & Low Books, 2022)
,
A Peculiar Kind of Immigrant's Son (Cinco Puntos Press, 2019)
,
The Nature of Truth: A Novel (Arte Público Press, 2014)
,
From This Wicked Patch of Dust (University of Arizona Press, 2011)
,
The Last Tortilla and Other Stories (University of Arizona Press, 1999)
Prizes won: 
  • Texas Literary Hall of Fame
  • Kay Cattarulla Award for Best Short Story
  • Premio Aztlan Literary Prize
  • Best Books of the Year, Kirkus Reviews
  • Gold Medal for Best Novel-Adventure or Drama from International Latino Book Awards
  • Gold Medal for Best Collection of Short Stories from International Latino Book Awards
  • Bronze Award for Essays, ForeWord Reviews
  • Silver Award for Multicultural Adult Fiction from ForeWord Reviews
  • Bronze Award for Multicultural Adult Fiction from ForeWord Reviews
  • Gold Medal for Best Latino-focused Nonfiction Book from International Latino Book Awards
  • Southwest Book Award (thrice), Border Regional Library Association
  • Notable Book, Southwest Books of the Year
  • Fulbright Scholarship
  • Hispanic Scholarship Fund's Alumni Hall of Fame
  • Literary Legacy Award, El Paso Community College
  • Texas Institute of Letters

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More Information

Gives readings: 
Yes
Travels for readings: 
Yes
Identifies as: 
Latino/Latina/Latinx
Prefers to work with: 
Any
Fluent in: 
English, Spanish
Born in: 
El Paso, TX
Texas
Raised in: 
El Paso, TX
Texas
Please note: All information in the Directory is provided by the listed writers or their representatives.
Last update: Nov 15, 2024