Cecilio García-Camarillo
Cecilio García-Camarillo was a prominent figure in the Chicano Movement of the 1970s, known for his multifaceted contributions as a poet, playwright, editor, and radio personality. Born on September 12, 1943, in Big Wells, Texas, he grew up in Laredo, where his experiences in a Tejano family and the culturally rich border region profoundly influenced his artistic voice. García-Camarillo studied English literature at the University of Texas at Austin while actively participating in antiwar protests, which shaped his worldview and inspired his literary pursuits. In 1971, he founded Magazín, a significant literary journal for Chicano literature, followed by subsequent publications, Caracol and Rayas, that further provided platforms for emerging voices.
After relocating to Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 1977, he launched the biweekly radio program Espejos de Aztlán, which highlighted Latino culture and politics. His poetry often tackles themes of war and social inequality, employing a bilingual and sometimes trilingual approach that incorporates English, Spanish, and Nahuatl. García-Camarillo's unique style blends surreal imagery with elements of protest, and he produced various chapbooks and adaptations for the stage, including the well-known political comedy La virgen de Tepeyac. His legacy includes awards such as the American Academy of Poets contest in 1970 and a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts in 1982, reflecting his dedication to both his craft and the support of fellow Chicano writers. He continued to be an influential voice until his passing in 2002.
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Subject Terms
Cecilio García-Camarillo
Author
- Born: September 12, 1943
- Birthplace: Big Wells, Texas
- Died: 2002
Biography
Cecilio García-Camarillo was a poet, playwright, editor, radio personality, and artist who was an influential figure in the Chicano Movement of the 1970’s. He was born in Big Wells, Texas, on September 12, 1943, and grew up in nearby Laredo in a Tejano family of seven. Before World War II, his family members had been agricultural workers, but after returning from war service, his father worked on the Texas Mexican Railroad. García-Camarillo often rode along, helping Mexican passengers who could not speak English. Growing up in the Barrio del Trompezón of Laredo also brought him into intimate contact with the rich multilingual culture of the border region, and these experiences contributed to his later poetic style and interests.
From 1967 to 1971, García-Camarillo studied English literature at the University of Texas at Austin. At the same time he became involved in the Chicano movement and Vietnam War protests. His antiwar views caused a falling-out with his father but inspired him to write and to encourage others to write. In 1971 he founded Magazín, the first of three literary reviews that were to provide a forum for Chicano literature. Caracol (snail) and Rayas (rays) were its successors. In 1977 he and his wife, Mia Kirsi Stageberg, moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, and two years later he launched a biweekly radio program, Espejos de Aztlán (mirrors of Aztlán), focusing on Latino politics and culture. In addition to his literary work and jobs in hospitals and nonprofit associations, García-Camarillo served as a cultural attaché for the Mexican consulate. He remained in Albuquerque until his death in 2002.
García-Camarillo’s first book of poetry was Get Your Tortillas Together (1976, with Reyes Cárdenas and Carmen Tafolla). After it, however, he held on to his work closely, seldom even publishing his poems in his own literary magazines. In 1981 he founded Mano Izquierda Books, through which he published sixteen self-illustrated chapbooks of limited circulation over the following thirteen years. It was not until 2000 that he allowed publication of The Selected Poetry of Cecilio García-Camarillo through a commercial publishing house.
García-Camarillo’s poetry is filled with protest about war and social inequity. It is often bilingual or trilingual (English, Spanish, and Nahuatl), surrealistic in its imagery of hallucinations and nightmares, often outraged in tone, and frequently spare in style. In many of his chapbooks, García-Camarillo imitated the Japanese haiku. In prefaces he explained that his work is an “introverted portrait of the Chicano experience” in which he “plays with the various levels of Chicano language in an attempt to get to the heart of the two major movements in his life: The oneiric and the sociopolitical.” He also wrote adaptations or original scripts for seven plays and one video, the best known of which is the political comedy La virgen de Tepeyac (1992, with Ramón Flores). García-Camarillo won the 1970 American Academy of Poets contest for “The Bomb/La Bomba,” received a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship in 1982, and was widely honored for his work helping other Chicano writers.