Librarians Select Nobody's Pilgrims for Top Ten List of In the Margins Book Awards

Librarians select Nobody's Pilgrims for the Top Ten List in Fiction, Nonfiction, and Social Advocacy of the IN THE MARGINS BOOK AWARDS for 2023. So grateful for librarians reaching out to readers often overlooked, underrepresented in literature.

"Nobody's Pilgrims offers a stark vision of a country whose social ills have sullied the path to the pursuit of happiness. Yet its intrepid protagonists Turi and Molly persevere, charting their own map and adapting, like generations of dreamers, immigrants, and adventurers before them, to the latest hurdles of our troubled world. Sergio Troncoso has given us a timely dystopian tale heavy with anguish but invigorated by resilience."
--Rigoberto González, author of Butterfly Boy: Memories of a Chicano Mariposa

https://inthemarginssite.blog/2023/02/09/2023-press-release/

Words on a Wire Interviews Sergio Troncoso on Nobody's Pilgrims

On KTEP's Words on a Wire, Sergio Troncoso talks about the ideas behind NOBODY'S PILGRIMS, how he inadvertently predicted the pandemic, and questions of love, belonging, and how Mexican Americans should claim their home even far away from the border.

"I want to challenge, if you want to call it, the Chicano literary imagination. I believe Chicanos should conquer not just places like Austin, not just places like Califas and Los Angeles, but places like Connecticut, places like Massachusetts, places where we are not there traditionally. So, I believe we have to expand our literary imagination and our ambition. We are deeply part of this country, as immigrants, as writers, as people challenging the norms."

 

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/storytelling-and-the-writing-craft-with-sergio-troncoso/id269774230

Nobody's Pilgrims Wins Best Novel- Adventure or Drama from ILBA

Last night in LA, Nobody’s Pilgrims won the Gold Medal for Best Novel- Adventure or Drama in English at the International Latino Book Awards. Thank you to Empowering Latino Futures, Las Comadres, and Reforma for this award.

Kirkus Reviews: "Troncoso delivers a surprisingly fast-paced, character-driven story.... A sublime, diverse cast drives this tale of looking for a safe, welcoming home."

Rigoberto González: "Sergio Troncoso has given us a timely dystopian tale heavy with anguish but invigorated by resilience."

 

Lupita Reads Nobody's Pilgrims

Thank you, Lupita Aquino at Lupita Reads, for interviewing me about Nobody's Pilgrims. One of the questions I answer: If your book was a famous musician, who would it be?

Sergio Troncoso: "Nobody's Pilgrims would be Lil Nas X, because he doesn't fit anywhere exactly, he's constantly pushing across different boundaries of music and audiences, because he doesn't give a damn and just is who he wants to be, without fitting into predetermined boxes in the music industry or the expectations of others. Lil Nas X is creating his own road as he goes, upsetting people, opening people's minds, prompting serious questions about identity and culture, all of it like Nobody's Pilgrims."

https://lupitareads.substack.com/p/on-moral-luck-and-moral-grit#%C2%A7without-further-ado-our-special-guest-author-today-issergio-troncoso-author-of-nobodys-pilgrims

Inklette Magazine's Conversation With Sergio Troncoso

A very in-depth interview (perhaps my most revealing in many years) with Devanshi Khetarpal of Inklette Magazine. Thank you, Devanshi, for the conversation.

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“A deep freedom of consciousness,” Sergio says, “is what writing is about.” “Damn even yourself,” he says and advises writers not to fall for their own proclivities, judgements and tendencies. He wants to ask the toughest questions of himself, as much as he asks them of others around them and that’s why he loves writing. He said, “Let me be blunt. I don’t even think I know myself.” It’s a huge admission to come from a writer, and it is difficult to do what Sergio wants writers to do: to turn the lens onto our own selves as we do towards others.
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https://inklettemagazine.com/2022/07/19/a-conversation-with-sergio-troncoso/

Texas Monthly's Profile of Sergio Troncoso

In the August 2022 issue of Texas Monthly: 

"The ‘Nobody’ in the title is there because they’re outsiders,' Troncoso says. 'They don’t belong anywhere, even within their own families. They’re orphans—or are for all practical purposes.' Over the course of their drive across the country, Turi and Arnulfo are treated with suspicion and even outright hostility from complete strangers. The novel reflects Troncoso’s perspective that 'Mexicanos and undocumented immigrants are much more akin to the original Pilgrims.'

Nobody’s Pilgrims celebrates outsiders in general and immigrants in particular, an ethos that was central to Troncoso’s recent two-year tenure as president of the Texas Institute of Letters. 'I threw my heart and soul into the TIL,' he says. 'That meant representing all of Texas. We inducted more African Americans than ever before. During my tenure, we gave the Lifetime Achievement Award to Benjamin Alire Sáenz, who probably should have won it ten years ago. And this year we gave it to Celeste Bedford Walker, the first African American to ever win the award. It’s long overdue, in my opinion; she’s a great playwright. The organization truly is morphing into something beyond white guys from Dallas and Austin.'"

https://www.texasmonthly.com/arts-entertainment/sergio-troncoso-making-texas-literature-representative/

WKNY Interview of Sergio Troncoso

I loved chatting with Rita Vanacore of WKNY of Kingston, New York. What a great conversation we had about Nobody's Pilgrims, how I started as a writer, my motivations for telling stories about outsiders and the border, and the messages in my novel. Thank you, Rita, for an excellent interview!

https://radiokingston.org/en/archive/planet-seniors/episodes/sergio-troncoso-author-of-nobodys-pilgrims-shauna-kanter-of-the-voice-theatre

Kirkus Reviews on Nobody's Pilgrims

"Troncoso delivers a surprisingly fast-paced, character-driven story. For example, readers watch Turi evolve from a meek 16-year-old loner to a capable young man who genuinely cares for his 'semi-friend' Arnulfo. At the same time, the road trip keeps the tightly plotted narrative moving across the country, all while villains (there are quite a few) close in. The cast also shines, including one criminal henchman harboring a tender affection for his 'hulking giant' of a partner. The author rounds out his memorable tale by touching on contemporary topical issues, like prejudices against caramel skin and undocumented immigrants. 

A sublime, diverse cast drives this tale of looking for a safe, welcoming home."

 https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/sergio-troncoso/nobodys-pilgrims/