Passion, Poetry, and Power

Chicana Author Ana Castillo Deftly Explores Human Themes

by Felicia M. Tomasko

Though renowned as an unabashed activist writer, Ana Castillo
said she is also well known for guarding her privacy. Even so, next
Thursday, May 25, as the UCSB’s annual Edwin and Jean Corle
Memorial lecturer, Castillo will speak candidly about her craft, or
what she describes as working with filigree to artfully arrange
words into poetry, prose, essays, plays, children’s books,
journals, blogs, or speeches. Although her method of expression
jumps around a bit, there’s the common theme of politics and social
justice that’s at the heart of everything she does. She’s
passionate about human rights and human stories, which fuels her
fight against racism, classism, and the obstacles that women face.
It’s a fight that’s in her blood, which is why more than 25 years
ago, Castillo said she “decided that writing would be the
activism.” Today, she’s considered one of the foremost Chicana role
models.

Her writing activism became famous with her first novel, 1986’s
The Mixquiahuala Letters, which garnered her an American
Book Award from the Before Columbus Foundation. Since then, her
fiction and poetry have earned a Carl Sandburg Award and
fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts. All that from
a self-taught writer who learned the discipline necessary for
professional writing by journaling, a subject she is teaching this
semester at DePaul University in Chicago. “I must admit,” Castillo
explained recently via telephone, “I am very obsessive about
writing.”