For his series on the U.S.-Mexico border, NPR's Steve Inskeep interviews Sergio Troncoso and his parents Rodolfo and Bertha Troncoso at their home in Ysleta, Texas. The family talks about growing up with kerosene lamps and stoves and an outhouse in the backyard, but his father’s humorous and honest responses to being a proud Mexicano steal the show.
Sergio Troncoso is the author of NOBODY’S PILGRIMS, which Ben Fountain called a "superb novel," and A PECULIAR KIND OF IMMIGRANT'S SON, which Luis Alberto Urrea hailed as "a world-class collection." Troncoso has a forthcoming memoir, THE BLOOD IN THE ADOBE, in 2027. Among the numerous prizes Troncoso has won are the Kay Cattarulla Award for Best Short Story, Premio Aztlán Literary Prize, and the Gold Medal for Best Novel-Adventure or Drama from the International Latino Book Awards. He was inducted into the Texas Literary Hall of Fame. A past president of the Texas Institute of Letters and a Fulbright scholar, Troncoso teaches at the Yale Writers’ Workshop. His stories and essays have appeared in CNN Opinion, New Letters, Other Voices, Pleiades, Prairie Schooner, Michigan Quarterly Review, Texas Monthly, and Yale Review.
