Sergio Troncoso, the son of Mexican immigrants, was born and grew up in the unincorporated neighborhood or colonia of Ysleta on the outskirts of El Paso, Texas. His parents built their adobe house, and the family lived with kerosene lamps and stoves and an outhouse in the backyard during their first years in Texas.
He is the author of four books. From This Wicked Patch of Dust was selected as a Notable Book by Southwest Books of the Year, and as one of the Best Books of 2011 by Dark Sky Magazine. The novel was also chosen as a finalist for the ForeWord Book of the Year Award in Multicultural Fiction, and as a finalist for Reading The West Book Award in Adult Fiction.
Please address professional inquiries to: SergioTroncoso@gmail.com.
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From This Wicked Patch of Dust:
“Troncoso is clearly adept at his craft, telling a story filled with rich language and the realities of family life....With its skillful pairing of conflict over religious and familial obligations with the backdrop of a Mexican-American family’s love for one another, Troncoso’s novel is an engaging literary achievement.” ---Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review
“Nuanced and authentic.” ---The Dallas Morning News
“There’s...genuine heart and pride in the depiction of the ‘four children, four worlds’ that spiral out of a single immigrant dream.” ---The El Paso Times
“An ambitious book, full of insight into complex American identity....There's wisdom in these pages and compassion for fragmented families in a mobile, complicated world.” ---National Public Radio Affiliate, Arizona’s KNAU
“Sergio Troncoso breathes fresh air into the American assimilation story. This story is...wholly universal.” ---The Philadelphia City Paper
“An intimate, revealing chronicle.” ---The Albuquerque Journal
Sergio Troncoso
Crossing Borders: Personal Essays:
“Engrossing and revealing.” ---Daniel Olivas for The El Paso Times
“Troncoso is an elegant writer whose work will make readers grateful that he writes his life down.” ---The Hispanic Reader
“Troncoso’s essays are lucid, philosophical, and erudite without being condescending to the reader. Crossing Borders signals a shift in writing about what it means to be Chicano and a writer in the early 21st century.” ---The Packinghouse Review
“These very personal essays cross several borders: cultural, historical, and self-imposed....We owe it to ourselves to read, savor and read them again.” ---Manuel Ramos for The El Paso Times
“It is these details that fill the simple and accessible prose of these essays with life, demonstrating how from such personal experiences emanate a universal message about what unifies us, despite our many differences.” ---Spanish News Agency EFE
Crossing Borders: Personal Essays was selected as one of the Best Books of 2011 by The Hispanic Reader. The book of essays was also chosen as a finalist for the ForeWord Book of the Year Award in Essays.
His first book The Last Tortilla and Other Stories won the Premio Aztlan and the Southwest Book Award. The Nature of Truth is a philosophical novel about obsession, violence, and the pursuit of truth at Yale.
Troncoso graduated from Harvard College, and studied international relations and philosophy at Yale University. He won a Fulbright scholarship to Mexico, where he studied economics, politics, and literature. He is a member of the Hispanic Scholarship Fund’s Alumni Hall of Fame and PEN. In 2012, he was inducted into the Texas Institute of Letters.
Troncoso writes the blog www.ChicoLingo.com about writing, politics, and finance. All of his podcasts are available free in the iTunes Music Store. He also keeps a list of recommended books at www.LiteraryLatino.com.