Previously she had served as writer-in-residence at a number of colleges. Best known for her novels
So Far from God and
Peel My Love like an Onion, Castillo is also the author of five volumes of poetry as well as hard-hitting essays such as those gathered in
Massacre of the Dreamers. Growing up Multicultural in Chicago
Born in Chicago, Illinois in 1953, Castillo is the daughter of working-class parents Raymond and Raquel Castillo. Castillo credits the rich storytelling tradition of her Mexican heritage as the foundation for her writing, though outside of the family she found little initial encouragement. She attended a high school that prepared its students to join the work force as secretaries and clerical workers despite the fact that as a youth Castillo always dreamed of having a career in the visual arts. But Castillo knew, as she told Saeta, that painting "would not have been considered a real profession for me." According to her family background, she was "supposed to be .
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