Raúl Niño
Raúl Niño is a notable Chicano poet, born on March 15, 1961, in Monterrey, Mexico. He immigrated to southern Texas with his mother and later moved to Chicago in the late 1960s. His literary work emerged from a nuanced exploration of his dual identity, focusing on personal and cultural themes rather than explicitly sociopolitical issues, which distinguishes him from many of his contemporaries in the Chicano literary movement. Niño attended Loyola University, where he studied Latin American studies and journalism, and became involved with influential figures in the Chicano literary scene, including Sandra Cisneros and Carlos Cumpián.
His poetry is characterized by a lyrical, introspective tone, often reflecting on memories of his childhood and the complexities of cultural assimilation. His collection, "Breathing Light," is regarded as a poetic autobiography that reveals his struggle with identity, utilizing sparse yet impactful imagery. Noteworthy poems, such as "Querido lenguaje mío," illustrate his ambivalence toward his Spanish heritage amidst the challenges of assimilation. Throughout his career, Niño has shown a gradual acceptance of his cultural background while maintaining a distinct voice that resists external pressures to conform to specific ethnic expressions in his work.
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Subject Terms
Raúl Niño
- Born: March 15, 1961
- Birthplace: Monterrey, Mexico
Biography
Raúl Niño represented the generation of Chicano writers who came of age after the militant days of the Chicano movement. As a poet, he struggled with his dual identity and wrote of individual, cultural matters rather than sociopolitical issues. He was born in Monterrey, Mexico, on March 15, 1961, and not long after came north with his mother to southern Texas. They moved to Chicago in the late 1960’s, where he did housework in the suburbs to help support them.
Niño graduated from New Trier West High School in 1980 and went to Loyola University for three years, concentrating on Latin American studies and journalism. There he met Chicana novelist Sandra Cisneros; through her guidance he met other Chicago-area Chicano writers. MARCH/Abrazo Press editor Carlos Cumpián became particularly important in starting Niño’s literary career. He worked for the Metropolitan Periodical Service in Chicago and, as an editorial assistant, for ALA’s Booklist.
Cumpián featured Niño as one of the poets in Emergency Tacos: Siete Poets con Picante (1989). He also published Niño’s only solo volume of poetry two years later, Breathing Light. According to literary critic Marc Zimmerman, the book amounts to a poetic autobiography of Niño’s youth and expresses a “sense of self removed from his Chicano identity.” Concerning both his memories of Monterrey and his formative years in Chicago, the poems are spare, written mostly in English, and solemnly lyrical in tone. Niño shows considerable dexterity with imagery, making single, usually sensual metaphors ring with symbolic meaning.
For example, in “Querido lenguaje mío” (my beloved language) he expresses his mixed feeling about Spanish: Although largely lost to the “syntax of amnesia,” the Spanish of his early childhood continues to shape his voice despite the “din of assimilation.” Likewise, in “Rimbaud in Evanston,” he wistfully recognizes that his place is in America, not in Africa on a daring quest as a poète maudit like Rimbaud and in the company of an alluring gypsy; he admits, “I try not to stare/at her coffee-colored ankles,/the sandals that kick up/small hurricanes of dust.” The diffidence in the poems regarding his Mexican heritage gives way to a tentative acceptance, although according to Zimmerman, Niño did not begin writing wholly in Spanish until the mid-1990’s; moreover, he resisted pressure from other writers to produce “specifically ethnic ‘raza’ poems.”
Roger Smith