Sergio Troncoso's Blog: Chico Lingo, by Sergio Troncoso, page 4

Lupita Reads Nobody's Pilgrims

Thank you, Lupita Aquino at Lupita Reads, for interviewing me about Nobody's Pilgrims. One of the questions I answer: If your book was a famous musician, who would it be?

Sergio Troncoso: "Nobody's Pilgrims would be Lil Nas X, because he doesn't fit anywhere exactly, he's constantly pushing across different boundaries of music and audiences, because he doesn't give a damn and just is who he wants to be, without fitting into predetermined boxes in the music industry or the expectations of others. Lil Nas X is creating his own road as he goes, upsetting people, opening people's minds, prompting serious questions about identity and culture, all of it like Nobody's Pilgrims."

https://lupitareads.substack.com/p/on-moral-luck-and-moral-grit#§without-further-ado-our-special-guest-author-today-issergio-troncoso-author-of-nobodys-pilgrims

Inklette Magazine's Conversation With Sergio Troncoso

A very in-depth interview (perhaps my most revealing in many years) with Devanshi Khetarpal of Inklette Magazine. Thank you, Devanshi, for the conversation.

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“A deep freedom of consciousness,” Sergio says, “is what writing is about.” “Damn even yourself,” he says and advises writers not to fall for their own proclivities, judgements and tendencies. He wants to ask the toughest questions of himself, as much as he asks them of others around them and that’s why he loves writing. He said, “Let me be blunt. I don’t even think I know myself.” It’s a huge admission to come from a writer, and it is difficult to do what Sergio wants writers to do: to turn the lens onto our own selves as we do towards others.
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https://inklettemagazine.com/2022/07/19/a-conversation-with-sergio-troncoso/

Texas Monthly's Profile of Sergio Troncoso

In the August 2022 issue of Texas Monthly: 

"The ‘Nobody’ in the title is there because they’re outsiders,' Troncoso says. 'They don’t belong anywhere, even within their own families. They’re orphans—or are for all practical purposes.' Over the course of their drive across the country, Turi and Arnulfo are treated with suspicion and even outright hostility from complete strangers. The novel reflects Troncoso’s perspective that 'Mexicanos and undocumented immigrants are much more akin to the original Pilgrims.'

Nobody’s Pilgrims celebrates outsiders in general and immigrants in particular, an ethos that was central to Troncoso’s recent two-year tenure as president of the Texas Institute of Letters. 'I threw my heart and soul into the TIL,' he says. 'That meant representing all of Texas. We inducted more African Americans than ever before. During my tenure, we gave the Lifetime Achievement Award to Benjamin Alire Sáenz, who probably should have won it ten years ago. And this year we gave it to Celeste Bedford Walker, the first African American to ever win the award. It’s long overdue, in my opinion; she’s a great playwright. The organization truly is morphing into something beyond white guys from Dallas and Austin.'"

https://www.texasmonthly.com/arts-entertainment/sergio-troncoso-making-texas-literature-representative/

WKNY Interview of Sergio Troncoso

I loved chatting with Rita Vanacore of WKNY of Kingston, New York. What a great conversation we had about Nobody's Pilgrims, how I started as a writer, my motivations for telling stories about outsiders and the border, and the messages in my novel. Thank you, Rita, for an excellent interview!

https://radiokingston.org/en/archive/planet-seniors/episodes/sergio-troncoso-author-of-nobodys-pilgrims-shauna-kanter-of-the-voice-theatre

Kirkus Reviews on Nobody's Pilgrims

"Troncoso delivers a surprisingly fast-paced, character-driven story. For example, readers watch Turi evolve from a meek 16-year-old loner to a capable young man who genuinely cares for his 'semi-friend' Arnulfo. At the same time, the road trip keeps the tightly plotted narrative moving across the country, all while villains (there are quite a few) close in. The cast also shines, including one criminal henchman harboring a tender affection for his 'hulking giant' of a partner. The author rounds out his memorable tale by touching on contemporary topical issues, like prejudices against caramel skin and undocumented immigrants. 

A sublime, diverse cast drives this tale of looking for a safe, welcoming home."

 https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/sergio-troncoso/nobodys-pilgrims/

Sergio Troncoso on Nobody's Pilgrims

Nobody's Pilgrims is my latest novel, an adventure story about three seventeen-year-old teenagers (Turi, Arnulfo, and Molly) who find each other and believe in each other, as evil pursues them across the United States. A novel that somewhat predicted the pandemic, Nobody's Pilgrims is set in a dystopian America where grit, intelligence, luck, and love are needed to survive. Here's a brief talk I did on YouTube on the main themes of Nobody's Pilgrims (Lee & Low Books). I hope you enjoy it.

 

https://youtu.be/X6thIoAgq3I

Diverse Voices Book Review on Nobody's Pilgrims

Thank you Hopeton Hay for interviewing me about Nobody's Pilgrims for Diverse Voices Book Review. What a great conversation we had! I loved it. These are my favorite conversations to have, with someone who loves books and digs deep into the novel and can appreciate the nuances of the characters and places I write about. So grateful!

 

 https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/hbhpodcasts/episodes/2022-06-05T05_57_50-07_00

Philadelphia's AL DÍA Interviews Sergio Troncoso

 I'm on the cover AL DÍA, a bilingual magazine from Philadelphia. Thank you!

"NOBODY'S PILGRIMS was written before 20 cases of COVID-19 existed in the U.S., and in a way, the novel predicted the pandemic that was to follow. The pandemic in my novel is transmitted by touch, and I just thought about what would tear apart this country and set us against each other. My answer was a pandemic. The three teenagers, all outsiders, forge a community of three, even as many around them turn against each other. And that’s what the novel is about: how we fight to stay together, how we struggle and succeed in becoming a ‘we,’” he said. https://www.aldianews.com/.../books-and-authors/view-border

Predicting the Pandemic in Nobody’s Pilgrims

My blog post about NOBODY'S PILGRIMS (Cinco Puntos Press: Lee & Low Books):

"Can imagination be a window into a possible future? Yes, indeed it can. I wrote my novel, Nobody’s Pilgrims, before twenty cases of COVID-19 existed in the United States. I actually turned in the final final draft of my novel to my publisher, Cinco Puntos Press, on leap day, February 29, 2020. Moreover, most of the novel had been written even earlier. And what was the novel about? Three runaway teenagers, Turi, Arnulfo, and Molly, pursued by evil people across a dystopian United States collapsing because of a pandemic."

https://blog.leeandlow.com/2022/05/12/predicting-the-pandemic-in-nobodys-pilgrims-a-guest-post-by-sergio-troncoso/

 

Somos En Escrito Interviews Sergio Troncoso

The editors of Somos En Escrito --Armando Rendon, Jenny Irizary, and Scott Duncan Fernandez--
interview Sergio Troncoso about his trajectory as a writer, Chicano literature and the morphing of its readership, changing organizations like the Texas Institute of Letters, and his new novel, Nobody's Pilgrims (Lee & Low Books: Cinco Puntos Press).

Sergio Troncoso: "The novel is about the grit and intelligence and luck of these three teenagers, Turi, Arnulfo, and Molly. They are all people who are ignored, los de abajo. They are working class, or even worse. They find each other, and they don't belong anywhere else. They belong with each other, but not with anyone else. And as things start falling apart, they have to find solutions.... The novel is about creating that togetherness within this small group that maybe we don't have or are losing in this country, how we belong together when we go through very difficult trials."

 

 https://youtu.be/OYBeJLhzyrk