The Macondo Writers Workshop is an association of socially-engaged professional level writers working to advance creativity, foster generosity, and serve community. Founded in 1995 by writer

Sandra Cisneros Sandra Cisneros (born December 20, 1954) is an American writer. She is best known for her first novel, ''The House on Mango Street'' (1984), and her subsequent short story collection, ''Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories'' (1991). Her wo ...

and named after the town in Gabriel García Marquez's ''

One Hundred Years of Solitude ''One Hundred Years of Solitude'' (, ) is a 1967 in literature, 1967 novel by Colombian people, Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez that tells the Family saga, multi-generational story of the Buendía family, whose patriarch, José Arcadio ...

'', the workshop gathers writers from all genres who work on geographic, cultural, economic, gender, and spiritual borders. An essential aspect of the Macondo Workshop is a global sense of community; participants recognize their place as writers in our society and the world.

History

Macondo began over twenty years ago when author Sandra Cisneros gathered a group of writers, artists, scholars and activists around her dining table in her King William home to meet informally for rigorous writing workshops. Under the direction of Cisneros, and during its brief time at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center, membership grew significantly. As such, Macondo has very established traditions and expectations that include a rigorous application process aimed at professional writers of all genres, and the "Compassionate Code of Conduct," a document drafted by a group of past Macondistas outlining the principles and ethics that govern our organization. Macondo has over two hundred lifetime members, many of whom have been with the association from the beginning and who continue to receive support from the Macondo community. Macondo has grown and solidified itself as a space of intense artistic and cultural creativity where writers, artists, thinkers, scholars, and critics can come together and inspire and challenge one another in order to incite change in our respective communities.

Mission

Cisneros has described Macondo's mission as supporting and uniting writers "who view their work and talents as part of a larger task of community-building and non-violent social change." The anthropologist and writer

Ruth Behar Ruth Behar is a Cuban-American anthropologist and writer.Ruth Behar
M ...

has described participants as "Americans of the other America, moving between cultures, languages, classes, homelands, translating our experience for ourselves and others."

Writing faculty

Noted past faculty members have included Ai Ogawa,

Dorothy Allison Dorothy Earlene Allison (April 11, 1949 – November 6, 2024) was an American writer whose writing focused on class struggle, sexual abuse, child abuse, feminism, and lesbianism. She was a self-identified femme lesbian. Allison won a number o ...

Julia Alvarez Julia Alvarez (born March 27, 1950) is an American New Formalist poet, novelist, and essayist. She rose to prominence with the novels '' How the García Girls Lost Their Accents'' (1991), ''In the Time of the Butterflies'' (1994), and ''Yo! ...

Richard Blanco Richard Blanco (born February 15, 1968) is an American poet, public speaker, author, playwright, and civil engineer. He is the fifth poet to read at a United States presidential inauguration, having read the poem " One Today" for Barack Oba ...

Andrei Codrescu Andrei Codrescu (; born December 20, 1946) is a Romanian-born American poet, novelist, essayist, screenwriter, and commentator for National Public Radio. He is the winner of the Peabody Award for his film ''Road Scholar'' and the Ovid Prize for ...

Rigoberto Gonzalez ''Rigoberto'' is a 1945 Argentine comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being ...

Joy Harjo Joy Harjo ( ; born May 9, 1951) is an American poet, musician, playwright, and author. She served as the 23rd United States Poet Laureate from 2019 to 2022, the first Native American to hold that honor. She was also only the second Poet Laureat ...

Tim Z. Hernandez Tim Z. Hernandez is an American writer, performer, and multi-disciplinary artist. His first poetry collection, ''Skin Tax '' (2004), received the 2006 American Book Award, and his debut novel, ''Breathing, in Dust'' (2010), was awarded the 2010 ...

Cherrie Moraga Cherrie is both a surname and a given name. Notable people with the name include: *George Kruck Cherrie (1865–1948), American naturalist and explorer * Peter Cherrie (born 1983), Scottish football goalkeeper *Cherrie Ying (born 1983), actress *C ...

, Manuel Muñoz,

Naomi Shihab Nye Naomi Shihab Nye (; born March 12, 1952) is an Arab American poet, editor, songwriter, and novelist. Born to a Palestinian father and an American mother, she began composing her first poetry at the age of six. In total, she has published or con ...

Elena Poniatowska Hélène Elizabeth Louise Amélie Paula Dolores Poniatowska Amor (born May 19, 1932), known professionally as Elena Poniatowska (), is a French-born Mexican journalist and author, specializing in works on social and political issues focused on ...

, Luis J. Rodriguez,

Norma Elia Cantú Norma Elia Cantú (born January 3, 1947) is a Chicana postmodernist writer and the Murchison Professor in the Humanities at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. Early life and education She was born in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico, t ...

and Helena María Viramontes.

Macondistas

The term "Macondistas" refers to authors and members of the writing community who are alumni of the Macondo Writers' Workshop. Writers and poets who have attended include: Pat Alderete, Francisco Aragon,

, Sarah A. Chavez, Wendy Call, Denise Chavez
Alex Espinoza

Alicia Gaspar de Alba Alicia Gaspar de Alba is an American scholar, cultural critic, novelist, and poet whose works include historical novels and scholarly studies on Chicana/o art, culture and sexuality. Biography Gaspar de Alba was born on July 29, 1958, in El P ...

Carmen Giménez Smith ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the Opér ...

, Jose B. Gonzalez
liz gonzález

Reyna Grande Reyna Grande (born 7 September 1975, Iguala, Guerrero, Mexico) is a Mexican-American author. Biography Grande grew up in poverty with her two siblings in Iguala, Guerrero. When she was two years old, her father moved to the U.S. to earn money ...

, Laurie Ann Guerrero,

Allison Hedge Coke Allison Adelle Hedge Coke is an American poet and editor. Her debut book, ''Dog Road Woman'', won the American Book Award and was the first finalist of the Paterson Poetry Prize and Diane DeCora Award. Since then, she has written five more books ...

, Joe Jimenez, Amelia M.L. Montes, Kristin Naca, Amada Irma Pérez, Lourdes Portillo, Renato Rosaldo, Raul Salinas,

Gary Soto Gary Anthony Soto (born April 12, 1952) is an American poet, novelist, and memoirist. Life and career Soto was born to Mexican-American parents Manuel (1910–1957) and Angie Soto (1924-). In his youth, he worked in the fields of the San Joaqu ...

, Ito Romo, William Sanchez,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bChnIaOKHfU Youtube interview with William Sanchez about Macondo

Carmen Tafolla Carmen Tafolla (born July 29, 1951) is an internationally acclaimedy Gibson, Eliza Rodriguez. "Tafolla, Carmen." In ''The Oxford Encyclopedia of Latinos and Latinas in the United States.'' (Oxford University Press, 2005). Chicana writer from San A ...

Anel I. FloresNatalia Treviño
Carla Trujillo,

Baldemar Velasquez Baldemar Velásquez (born February 15, 1947)''Hispanic Americans Information Directory,'' 1991, p. 408. is an American labor union activist. He co-founded and is president of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee, AFL-CIO. He was named a MacArthur F ...

, and

Dan Vera Dan Vera (born South Texas) is an American poet and editor. Career Vera is the author of ''Speaking Wiri Wiri'', (Red Hen Press, 2013) and ''The Space Between Our Danger and Delight'', (Beothuk Books, 2009). His manuscript ''The Guide to Imagi ...

References

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External links