Episode 24: Antonio Villaseñor-Baca | University of Texas at El Paso

What does a bilingual MFA program look like in practice? Antonio Villaseñor-Baca of the University of Texas El Paso joins Jared to talk about studying cross-genre work in English and Spanish, launching a music magazine between degrees, and how reading a diverse canon helped him take pride in his Xicanx identity.

Antonio Villaseñor-Baca is a Xicanx bilingual journalist, photographer, poet and writer from El Paso, Texas. He spends his time listening to music and working towards his MFA in creative writing at the University of Texas at El Paso, where he taught Rhetoric and Writing Studies courses. Antonio also serves as an online editor for Minero Magazine and has written for YR Media, 18-to-29 Now, Borderzine, and El Paso Inc. He has published poetry in Rio Grande Review, Mojave Heart Review, and Norte/Sur. He focuses on short fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, and visual/photographic narrative. Find him at his magazine, Con Safos.

Mentions:

· Ruben Salazar
· Dagoberto Gilb
· Dolores Huerta
· Cesar Chavez
· George Lopez
· Drink Cultura: Chicanismo by José Antonio Burciaga
· David Ortiz, baseball player
· Ernest Hemingway
· Herman Melville
· Jorge Luis Borges
· Gabriel García Márquez
· MFA Writers episode with Alejandro Puyana
· Huizache
· Sandra Cisneros
· Under the Feet of Jesus by Helena María Viramontes
· Why I Am Like Tequila by Lupe Mendez
· Literarity Book Shop
· Cinco Punto Press
· Joy Harjo