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Daniel Chacón
Birth date1962 (age 64–65)
Birth placeFresno, California, U.S.
OccupationWriter, educator
LanguageEnglish
NationalityAmerican
EducationCalifornia State University, Fresno (BA)
University of Oregon (MFA)
GenresFiction, Chicano literature
AwardsAmerican Book Awards
Hudson Prize
PEN Oakland Award

Daniel Chacón (born 1962) is a Chicano short story writer, novelist, essayist, editor, professor, and radio host based in El Paso, Texas.[1] He chairs the University of Texas at El Paso creative writing graduate program, the country's only bilingual MFA program.[2] He founded the Chicano Writers and Artists Association with Fresno State classmate and close friend Andrés Montoya in 1985.[3][4][5]

Early life

Chacón was born and raised in Fresno, California; his father was from El Paso, Texas.[1][6] One of his brothers is writer Kenneth Robert Chacón, from whom he was estranged for many years.[7][8] He earned a BA in political science from California State University, Fresno and an MFA in fiction writing from the University of Oregon.[2][9][10] While at CSU, he wrote for the campus newspaper La Voz de Aztlan.[9]

Career

Chacón joined the MFA program at University of Texas at El Paso as an assistant professor in Creative Writing in 2000[11] and has been the department chair since 2017.[12] Since 2011, he has co-hosted the KTEP show Words on a Wire; his original co-host was Benjamin Alire Sáenz and is now Tim Z. Hernandez.[13][9] Guests include Alison Hawthorne Deming, Francisco Aragón, and Garrett Hongo.[14] He serves at the assistant director of the Alisa Ann Ruch Burn Foundation and was appointed chair for the International Association of Burn Camps' Board of Directors in 2018,[15] and is part of the Southwest Festival of the Written Word's advisory board.[16]

He has also edited several books, including A Jury of Trees (a posthumous collection of poetry by Andrés Montoya) (2017), The Last Supper of Chicano Heroes: The Selected Work of José Antonio Burciaga (2008; with Mimi Reisel Gladstein) and Colón-ization: The Posthumous Poems of Andrés Montoya (2017).[17][18][19] His writing has also appeared in several anthologies: Caliente: The Best Erotic Writing in Latin American Fiction (2002), Lengua Fresca: Latinos Writing on the Edge (2006), and Best of the West 2009: New Stories from the West Side of the Missouri (2009), among others.[20] Journals that have published his work include ZYZZYVA, Americas Review, Bilingual Review, Colorado Review, New England Review, and Callaloo.[21] He also dabbles in playwrighting, standup, and poetry.[22][23]

Personal life

Chacón is married and has a step-daughter.[4] His first child was born in 2020.[24] He began speaking Spanish in 1996.[25]

Awards and honors

Chacón has received a grant from the Christopher Isherwood Foundation[26] and was inducted into the Texas Institute of Letters in 2019.[27]

YearBookAward NameAward BodyReference
2000Godoy LivesPeter and Jean de Maine Award for an Emerging Writer in FictionClackamas Literary Review[28][17]
2007Unending RoomsHudson PrizeBlack Lawrence Press[17]
2009The Last Supper of Chicano Heroes: Selected Works of José Antonio BurciagaAmerican Book AwardsBefore Columbus Foundation[29]
2014Hotel JuárezPEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Literary AwardPEN Oakland[30]
Tejas Award for Best Book of FictionNational Association of Chicana and Chicano Studies[31]

References

  1. ^ Contreras, Russell (2020-02-14). "Focus on Latino authors amid 'American Dirt' debate El Paso's Chacón, Troncoso among suggested reads". El Paso Inc. Retrieved 2021-08-03.
  2. ^ Maszewska, Jadwiga (2004). ""Nobody knows where Aztlan is": An interview with Daniel Chacón". American Studies Association. Retrieved 2021-08-03.
  3. ^ "ANDRÉS MONTOYA (1968-1999)". Andrés Montoya Poetry. n.d. Retrieved 2021-08-03.
  4. ^ Silva, Ire'ne Lara (2020-04-10). "OPENING NEW DOORS AND WINDOWS: TALKING WITH DANIEL CHACÓN". The Rumpus. Retrieved 2021-08-03.
  5. ^ Cucurella, Paula (2020). ""Fuck Shakespeare" and MEChA in the '80s: An interview with Daniel Chacón". Latino Studies. 18 (1): 122–128. doi:10.1057/s41276-019-00232-9. S2CID 214273696. Retrieved 2021-08-03.
  6. ^ Contreras, Russell & Mone, John L. (2019-08-07). "El Paso, with deep Mexican American past, rallies amid pain after mass shooting". The OCR. Retrieved 2021-08-03.
  7. ^ "WORDS ON A WIRE: Kenneth Robert Chacón". KTEP. 2017-04-16. Retrieved 2021-08-03.
  8. ^ Vasquez, Christian (2017-09-25). "A tale of two cholos". The Prospector Daily. Retrieved 2021-08-03.
  9. ^ Yip, Helen (2014-11-13). "Award-winning writers team up in Texas to broadcast unique national showcase for creative writing". Borderzine. Retrieved 2021-08-03.
  10. ^ "LETRAS LATINAS BLOG: "Fresno State's first Chicano student body president."". Archived from the original on 2012-07-10. Retrieved 2012-05-07.
  11. ^ "The Selected Works of Daniel Chacón". UTEP. n.d. Retrieved 2021-08-03.
  12. ^ "Author Professor Daniel Chacón – The Crazy Artist: How to create". Downtown El Paso. 2017-09-05. Archived from the original on 2021-08-03. Retrieved 2021-08-03.
  13. ^ "Words on a Wire". KTEP. 2021. Archived 2021-01-26 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2021-08-03.
  14. ^ "El Paso NPR - KTEP 88.5 : National Public Radio for the Southwest". Archived from the original on 2011-12-17. Retrieved 2012-05-07.
  15. ^ "Alisa Ann Ruch Burn Foundation Annual Report 2018". Alisa Ann Ruch Burn Foundation. 2018. Retrieved 2021-08-03.
  16. ^ "Advisory Board". SW Word Fiesta. n.d. Retrieved 2021-08-03.
  17. ^ Dreyer, Thorne (2013-12-06). "Rag Radio 2013-12-06 - Award-Winning Fiction Writer Daniel Chacón, Author of 'Hotel Juarez'". Rag Radio. Retrieved 2021-08-03.
  18. ^ "Faculty". Retrieved 2012-05-07.
  19. ^ "Daniel Chacón (Professor)". University of Texas, El Paso. n.d. Retrieved 2021-08-03.
  20. ^ Ladau, Eric (2013-05-21). "Classical 91.7-Arte Público Author of the Month: Daniel Chacón". Houston Public Media. Retrieved 2021-08-03.
  21. ^ Dugan, Lori (2007-03-16). "EAC's Visiting Writers Series continues with Daniel Chacón". Eastern Arizona College. Retrieved 2021-08-03.
  22. ^ Hoppenthaler, John (2014). "Daniel Chacón - Poetry". Connotation Press. Retrieved 2021-08-03.
  23. ^ Unending Rooms. Bookshop.org. n.d. ISBN 978-0-9815899-3-0. Retrieved 2021-08-03.
  24. ^ "BOOKCHAT: An interview with Daniel Chacón". SW Word Fiesta. 2020-09-15. Retrieved 2021-08-03.
  25. ^ Villalba, Tabitha (2006-08-31). "INTERVIEW: Daniel Chacon"
  26. ^ Cederlof, Calley (2016-04-13). "Author to speak at COS". Visalia Times Delta. Retrieved 2021-08-03.
  27. ^ Ramos Pachecho, Maria (2019-02-19). "Creative writing professors inducted to TIL". The Prospector Daily. Retrieved 2021-08-03.
  28. ^ "CLR Writing Contests". Clackamas Literary Review. n.d. Retrieved 2021-08-03.
  29. ^ "The American Book Awards". Minnesota State, Moorhead. n.d. Retrieved 2021-08-03.
  30. ^ "PEN Oakland Awards & Winners". PEN Oakland. n.d. Retrieved 2021-08-03.
  31. ^ "Writers' Series". Lake Tahoe Community College. n.d. Retrieved 2021-08-03.