Amy Bowllan

Writers Against Racism: Francisco Stork

Francisco Stork’s third novel,


Marcelo in the Real World, (Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic, March, 2009)

Marcelo in the Real World is about a seventeen-year-old with a “developmental disability” similar to Aspergers syndrome who is forced to spend a summer working at his father’s law firm where he discovers the joys and pains of being fully human. Marcelo in the Real World received starred reviews from Publisher’s Weekly, Horn Books, Kirkus Reviews, School Library Journal and Booklist.

Personal Encounters with Racism

I came to El Paso, Texas from Mexico when I was nine years old. I didn’t know how to speak English and so when I entered school I was moved back a year from the sixth grade to the fifth grade. This wasn’t exactly racism in the sense that the move was partly due to my inability to function at the sixth grade level. Nevertheless, there was simply no effort to ease the transition from one language to another. It was sink or swim. I think that not caring whether the non-native speaker succeeds in school is a form of racism.   Fortunately, I learned to swim quickly. I also remember a rule the school had. If you were caught speaking Spanish, you were sent to the principal’s office and swatted with a board that had little holes through which the air could flow. I was often the recipient of this pedagogical tool.

Racism’s Impact on my Work as a Writer

 

One of the effects of racism on the individual is that it creates an inferiority complex. The victim of racism begins to believe that indeed he or she is not as good as people say. But the sense that people see you as “less” can also be a motivational force. I remember as I was growing up being fueled by a hunger that sought to excel. I wanted to be a writer so I threw myself into becoming one by throwing myself into reading all I could get my hands on and writing in a journal every day.

Literature and the Promotion of Tolerance

I don’t overtly deal with racism in my novels, although sometimes I present subtle forms of racism like the kind found in the corporate world. The main characters of my books are Latino characters but my stories are not directly about “Latino themes.” Rather, my stories are about events and situations that affect all young men and women. Of course, being Latino affects how the characters deal with those events and situations. I believe that tolerance is promoted by showing how Latino young people are just like all other young people. I try to show in my works the many facets of Latino youth that do not conform to the stereotypes that our society has placed on them. 

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Francisco X. Arguelles was born in Monterrey, Mexico in 1953. When he was six years old, Charles Stork, a retired American citizen of Dutch descent, married Ruth Arguelles, a single mother, adopted Francisco and moved the three-member family to El Paso, Texas.

Francisco entered Jesuit High School in El Paso. In his senior year, he received an Honor’s scholarship (full tuition and living expenses) to Spring Hill College, a Jesuit College in Mobile Alabama, where Francisco majored in English and Philosophy. After college he attended Harvard University where he studied Latin American Literature. After four years of graduate studies at Harvard, he entered Columbia Law School. Since graduating from law school since 1982, he has practiced law while pursuing his vocation to write. Currently, Francisco Stork works as an attorney for MassHousing, a Massachusetts State Agency that develops affordable housing.

Francisco Stork’s first novel, The Way of the Jaguar, (Blingual Review Press, 2000) is the story of Ismael Díaz, a Mexican-American man awaiting execution in a Texas prison. The Way of the Jaguar was a recipient of the 1999 Chicano/Latino Literary Prize.

Behind the Eyes, (Dutton, May, 2006) was inspired by Francisco Stork’s experience growing up in the projects of El Paso, Texas. Hector Robles is an intelligent Chicano kid who tries very hard, but ultimately to no avail, to stay clear of the violence that surrounds him, was also selected for inclusion in The New York Public Library’s Books for the Teen Age 2007.

Francisco’s next novel, The Last Summer of the Death Warriors will be published by Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic in the Spring of 2010

For additional information: www.franciscostork.com

Posted by Amy Bowllan on September 5, 2009 | Comments (7)