Today we’d like to introduce you to Kimberly Garza, author of THE LAST KARANKAWAS, a novel published in August 2022.
Hi Kimberly, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I knew as a kid I wanted to be a writer, but what I didn’t know was a realistic path to get there. My family are Texans and immigrants, doctors, nurses, teachers who knew about hard work and education but nothing of art, craft, publishing. I couldn’t see the way toward my dream, and I felt lost. How did I write the fiction stories I longed to write–but also pay the bills? I went into journalism, news and reporting, and later magazines. I wrote articles, saw my byline in print, and was paid (a little) for my words. But it wasn’t enough: I still dreamed of writing fiction. So in the spirit of my family, I leaned on education. I took creative writing classes at UT as an undergrad and a graduate student, and later went on to get a Ph.D. in English and creative writing at North Texas. That’s not the path for everyone who wants to be a writer, but it was the right one for me. I wrote and rewrote, learned from authors and scholars, read and read and read, and along the way, found a love for teaching. I wrote a book, which would eventually become my recently published novel, THE LAST KARANKAWAS. And I made it here somehow. Today I’m writing and teaching, doing exactly what I love. Years ago, I couldn’t see the path to get here because it didn’t exist for me. So I paved it myself.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
It’s been a hard road. My mother, a breast cancer survivor, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2009, and she battled it ferociously until her death in 2017. Anyone who has experienced cancer and loss knows the ways that it permeates your everyday life and completely unravels it. I drove home to Uvalde on weekends during grad school to visit; we flipped through celebrity gossip magazines (her favorite) as she sat in chemo treatments. The semester she passed away, I was completing my Ph.D. and fought every day to get out of bed, to study, to teach, without her. But she finished a Ph.D. in nursing as a cancer patient, so I had no excuse! I’m fiercely proud of all that my mother accomplished and when I have moments of doubt or stress, I remember her fight, her joy, and spirit. I carry that with me every day.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
In addition to being a writer, I’m also a professor of creative writing and literature at the University of Texas at San Antonio. I’m proud of my work as both a writer and a teacher, and so grateful I get to spend my days with other lovers of writing and literature. I grew up in Uvalde, only an hour from where I currently live in San Antonio. I never thought I would be back here–I dreamed of writing in New York or California or anywhere else, really. But I love the connection I have with the community at UTSA and in this area, as both a woman of color (my father is Mexican-American and my mother was a Filipina immigrant) and someone who knows this place, is a product of this land. I am honored to represent my heritage and my communities in this city, every day.
Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs or other resources you think our readers should check out?
Too many! I love the podcast Marlon & Jake Read Dead People, where acclaimed author Marlon James and his editor, Jake Morrissey, talk about great and not-so-great reads by dead authors. And I listen to The Slowdown when I need a quick, meditative dose of poetry in my mornings. With the pandemic, so much of my writing life has been virtual and isolated–I listened to tons of podcasts, read books, and basically lived the last several years online as I wrote and taught. These days, I’m back to using physical things to recharge. A walk outside with reggaeton on my headphones, visits with friends over drinks on a patio somewhere, a long solo drive where I can think–these are the best for me, and maybe for some of your readers too.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.kimberlygarza.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kimrgarza/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/kimrgarza
Image Credits
Lindsay Garza
Katherine Fan
Elizabeth Lennie
Kimberly Garza
