Writers on writing: An interview with poet and novelist Ana Castillo

Ana Castillo (photo courtesy of the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame).

When acclaimed poet and novelist Ana Castillo led a course in memoir writing at Dominican University in the fall of 2014, there was an air of familiarity in the stories born on her students’ pages. 

“I identified with some of the young students,” Castillo explained. “Many of them came from working class backgrounds, many were first generation to go to college, so there was an affinity with their earnest dedication to what they were doing. Nothing was taken for granted — at least by the students I had experiences with.”

Castillo, herself a first-generation college student born to parents who worked in Chicago factories, is known as one of the prominent voices of Chicana literature in a career that has spanned nearly half a century. Her impassioned poems, novels and essays tackling themes of race, politics, feminism, love, contemporary world issues and the Latinx experience have earned her a host of honors, including the Fuller Lifetime Achievement Award from the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame in March 2022.

“All writers, regardless of age or background, are always so appreciative and happy when our work is recognized, but this was something special for me personally because it’s my hometown,” Castillo said of the Fuller Award, which recognizes the achievements of Chicago writers.

I interviewed Castillo as part of my work with Dominican University. The following represents a portion of that interview. You can also find Castillo’s bibliography and additional background at www.anacastillo.net.

Q: Reviewers often have a long list of descriptive words that they give you as a writer, just because you write across multiple genres and about diverse themes.  How do you describe yourself as a writer?

Ana Castillo: I see myself as a poet and writer. When I decided to pursue writing poetry, I was in college at Northeastern Illinois University, majoring to teach, but on my own I decided to pursue poetry. I told myself that, in order to become a good poet, this was all I could do; I couldn’t write anything else. I gave up my art and visual arts and so on just to write poetry. As time has gone on and I began writing stories and published my first novel (The Mixquiahuala Letters, 1986) there was a whole new audience that saw me only as a novelist and didn’t even know I wrote poetry. Then I wrote articles and a play that was produced at the Goodman, but I still see myself as a poet and a writer.

Q: How has your work evolved and changed over your career?

AC: I’m hoping that after nearly a half-century I’ve gotten better at my craft and have more control over it. That goes for all genres. I do write contemporary work, so I’m addressing the times. My objective is to give voice to marginalized groups of people. That hasn’t changed that much. I think there are poems I have written 30, 40 years ago that could be read today and apply to a new generation.

Q: What other themes do you find yourself returning to in your work today?

AC: When I was in high school and through college and out of college, I got very involved in grassroots activism and politics. Coming out of that, I turned to feminism also. A form of feminism, or a woman’s perspective that may not always been seen, but can be experienced through my poetry or fiction, is something that continues to be very important for me to serve as a witness to. I don’t represent all women or Chicanas or Latinas from Chicago, but it’s a point of view that hasn’t been seen until more recent years.

Q: Of the multiple genres you have written in, is there one you enjoy the most?

AC: I find fiction writing has been the easiest for me. I started writing stories as a child and I loved the narrative and telling stories. Then there’s the whole challenge of the craft and developing them and so on. Poetry is something that is a gift from the gods.  I have to really focus on that and say, ‘“This is what I’m doing.” I had a book of new poems come out last fall and that took 10 ten years to put together. The hardest genre for me is critical essay form, for the all left-brain, right-brain reasons that go along with writing an essay. But each one of them I enjoy doing and whatever I want to say, I’ll say it in that genre, I’ll apply myself. 

Q: Your last collection of poetry was published one year ago. What are you currently working on?

AC: It’s a collection of short stories called Doña Cleanwell Leaves Home. I went back to short fiction a year or two ago. The English version is scheduled for May of next year, with a Spanish edition to follow six months later. After that, it’s a novel called Isabel 2121. It’s something I began working on a few years back and I pulled it out again. This is a new genre for me. It’s a novel, but I’ve never written a dystopian novel before and it’s partly dystopian and partly historical. 

Q: What advice can you give to Latinx writers who are trying to break into the literary world today?

AC: I see so many Latinx people developing venues, developing outlets. There is such a vast range of opportunities for people to get their word out there, whether it is digital or paper, so I don’t feel I have any advice as far as that goes. In my generation, you had a book or you didn’t. Nevertheless, even though there is a lot of support and you can develop a blog and website, it’s very important to keep reading. I do advocate for book reading and to keep up with other writers. If you’re aspiring to be a poet, read other poets and learn from those poets who have come before us. That’s how I learned my craft. While we’re anxious to get the word out about ourselves today on social media, it’s really important to step back occasionally and look at what other people are doing so you can learn from them.

Jennifer Johnson is a writer, part-time poet and award-winning former community journalist based in Chicago.