HOLA.
Hello.
I’m a writer and researcher raised on the borderlands of El Paso, Texas and Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua. I write essays, narrative nonfiction, profiles, and memoir.
When I was a child, I'd spend hours hiking in the Chihuahuan Desert. I told my family stories about the coyotes, rattlesnakes, and rabbits I encountered. I became a researcher and writer to better understand the Chihuahuan Desert, the U.S.-Mexico border, and my family, who have called this place home for five generations.
My first book, Out of the Sierra: A Story of Rarámuri Resistance, is available for purchase. Based on ongoing field research in a Rarámuri community called El Oasis, located in Chihuahua City, the narrative follows the Gutierrez family as they leave the Sierra and make their lives in the city. Out of the Sierra was selected as an Indies Introduce title!
I also work closely with the current siríame, or governor, of El Oasis to bring relevant programming to community members. In 2020 and 2023, we received the Community Development Action Fund from the U.S. Department of State to do a storytelling workshop with Rarámuri youth. You can read more about our latest project, entitled The Rarámuri Cultural Reclamation Program, here.
