H. G. Carrillo

Herman "H.G." Carrillo (born 1960) is an Afro-Cuban American^[2] writer and Assistant Professor of English at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.^[3] Central to Carrillo's writing is the Cuban immigrant experience in the United States.

Early life and education

Carrillo was born in Havana, Cuba in 1960.^[4] Carrillo received his BA in Fiction Writing from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York in 2004 and an MFA from Cornell in 2007.^[5]

Career

Carrillo is an assistant professor of English at George Washington University.^[5] He started teaching at the university level after 2007.^[6]

Publications

Several publications have included his work, including The Kenyon Review, Conjunctions, The Iowa Review, Glimmer Train, Ninth Letter, and Slice.^[7] Areas of interest include Fiction Writing, U.S. Latino Literature and Visual Culture, Literature and Culture of the 1960s, 20th- and 21st US Literature, Gender Studies.^[3]

Loosing My Espanish

Carrillo's first full-length novel, Loosing My Espanish, (Pantheon, 2004) addresses the complexities of Latino Immigration, religiously associated education, homosexuality, and lower class struggles from a Cuban immigrant's perspective.

Wendy Gimbel at The Washington Post wrote a lengthy review of this novel, saying this about Carrillo's interesting writing style:

"In this complexly structured novel, Oscar's narrative moves backward and forward, alternating between the present and historical time. If one considers the present moment as a force field that holds together all the disparate elements in the book, a cohesive tale emerges from a seemingly disorderly series of scenes."(Gimbel 2005)^[8]

Synopsis: "Oscar Delossantos is about to lose his job as a teacher at a Jesuit high school in Chicago. Rather than go quietly, he embarks on a valiant last history lesson that chronicles the flight from Cuba of his makeshift extended family. Evoking the struggle between nostalgia and the realities of the Cuban Revolution with both grit and lyricism, he inspires his students with an altogether dazzling reinterpretation of the Cuban-American experience." (Random House, inc. 2005)^[9]

Awards

Carrillo received the Arthur Lynn Andrew Prize for Best Fiction in 2001 and 2003 as well as the Iowa Award in 2004. He has received several fellowships and grants, including a Sage Fellowship, a Provost's Fellowship, and a Newberry Library Research Grant. He earned the 2001 Glimmer Train Fiction Open Prize and was named the 2002 Alan Collins Scholar for Fiction.^[10]

Awards and grants

• 2004 Iowa Award
• 2003 Arthur Lynn Andrew Prize for Best Fiction
• 2002 Alan Collins Scholar for Fiction
• 2001 Arthur Lynn Andrew Prize for Best Fiction
• Sage Fellowship
• Provost Fellowship
• Newberry Library Research Grant

Published work

Books

• Loosing My Espanish (2004)

Short Stories

• Andalúcia" Conjunctions (2008/2009)
• Co-Sleeper (2008)
• Who Knew Desi Arnaz Wasn’t White?" An Essay. (2007)
• ¿Quién se hubiera imaginado que Desi Arnaz no era blanco? (2007)
• Pornografía (2007)
• Elizabeth (2006)
• The Santiago Boy (2006)
• Caridad (2005)
• Cosas (2004)
• Abejas Rubias (2004)

References