Sergio Troncoso is the author of eight books: Nobody's Pilgrims, A Peculiar Kind of Immigrant's Son, The Last Tortilla and Other Stories, Crossing Borders: Personal Essays, the novels 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 fiction and nonfiction 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 recent work has appeared in the Texas Highways, Houston Chronicle, CNN Opinion, New Letters, Yale Review, Michigan Quarterly Review, and Texas Monthly Magazine.

Nobody's Pilgrims is an adventure story about three teenagers trying to find their place in a dystopian United States and on the run from evil. Elizabeth Crook, author of The Which Way Tree: "Eloquent, bold, and terrifying."

Nepantla Familias: An Anthology of Mexican American Literature on Families in between Worlds received a starred review from Kirkus Reviews: "A deeply meaningful collection that navigates important nuances of identity."

A Peculiar Kind of Immigrant’s Son is a book of linked short stories about immigration, Mexican-American diaspora, perspectivism, and time. Luis Urrea praised it as “a world-class collection.”

The Nature of Truth is a philosophical thriller about a Yale research student who discovers that his boss, a renowned professor, hides a Nazi past. Rigoberto Gonzalez for The El Paso Times: “Sergio Troncoso’s The Nature of Truth single-handedly redefines the Chicano novel and the literary thriller.”

From This Wicked Patch of Dust is a story about the Martinez family from rural Ysleta in El Paso, Texas who struggles to stay together despite cultural clashes, different religions, and politics after September 11, 2001. In a starred review, Kirkus Reviews said the novel was “an engaging literary achievement,” and chose it as one of the best books of the year.

Crossing Borders: Personal Essays is a collection of essays about how Troncoso made the leap from growing up poor along the border to the Ivy League, his wife's battle against breast cancer, his struggles as a writer in New York and Texas, fatherhood, and interfaith marriage. The Portland Book Review said the book was “Heart-wrenching.”

Our Lost Border: Essays on Life amid the Narco-Violence is a collection of essays on how the bi-national and bi-cultural existence along the United States-Mexico border has been disrupted by recent drug violence. Publishers Weekly called it an “eye-opening collection of essays.”

Booklist hailed Troncoso’s first book, The Last Tortilla and Other Stories, with “Enthusiastically recommended,” and Publishers Weekly said, “These stories are richly satisfying.” 

Among the numerous literary awards he has won are the Kay Cattarulla Award for Best Short Story, Premio Aztlan Literary Prize, International Latino Book Award for Best Collection of Short Stories, Southwest Book Award, Bronze Award for Essays from ForeWord Reviews, and the Silver and Bronze Awards for Multicultural Adult Fiction from ForeWord Reviews.

Website: www.SergioTroncoso.com

Twitter Username: @SergioTroncoso

Publications

• Nobody's Pilgrims , Lee & Low Books: Cinco Puntos Press (May 10, 2022)
• Nepantla Familias: An Anthology of Mexican American Literature on Families in between Worlds , The Wittliff Literary Series and Texas A&M University Press (April 2, 2021)
• A Peculiar Kind of Immigrant's Son , Lee & Low Books: Cinco Puntos Press (October 15, 2019)
• The Nature of Truth (revised and updated) , Arte Publico Press (March 30, 2014)
• Our Lost Border: Essays on Life amid the Narco-Violence (co-editor) , Arte Publico Press (March 30, 2013)
• Crossing Borders: Personal Essays , Arte Publico Press (September 30, 2011)
• From This Wicked Patch of Dust , University of Arizona Press (September 1, 2011)
• The Nature of Truth , Northwestern University Press (July 15, 2003)
• The Last Tortilla and Other Stories , University of Arizona Press (September 1, 1999)

Awards

• First Place for Best Collection of Short Stories (English/Bilingual), International Latino Book Award (2020)
• Kay Cattarulla Award for Best Short Story (2020)
• Bronze Award for Multicultural Fiction, ForeWord Reviews (2015)
• First Place for Best Latino-focused Nonfiction Book (Bilingual), International Latino Book Award (2014)
• Southwest Book Award, Border Regional Library Association (2013)
• Texas Institute of Letters (2012)
• Southwest Book Award, Border Regional Library Association (2012)
• Second Place for Best Biography in English, International Latino Book Award (2011)
• Bronze Award for Essays, ForeWord Reviews (2011)
• Southwest Book Award, Border Regional Library Association (2000)
• Premio Aztlan Literary Prize (1999)
• Fulbright Scholarship (1983)

Degrees

• Bachelor of Arts in Government/Latin American Studies from Harvard College (June 1983)
• Master of Arts in International Relations from Yale University (May 1987)
• Master of Arts in Philosophy from Yale University (May 1992)

Genres of Interest

Fiction, Creative nonfiction