Selected Fiction

Short Stories & Anthologies

From the cantinas of El Paso and Nuevo Laredo to the historic barrios along the Rio Grande, these collected short works explore cultural identity, alienation, and the vivid inner lives of the borderlands.

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Short Story Cuentos Chicanos: A Short Story Anthology

“Yellow Flowers”

Edited by Rudolfo A. Anaya & Antonio Márquez • University of New Mexico Press

From the Editors’ Foreword

“The twenty-one stories in this collection typify the phenomenal growth Chicano literature has undergone during the past two decades... ranging from depictions of a childlike innocence to world-weary knowledge, from accounts of migrant life to middle-class anxieties, and from celebrations of the family to explorations of the supernatural.”

Included is “Yellow Flowers,” first featured in the manuscript collection A Ganglion of Seeds and Other Stories. The story follows an alienated young Mexican-American man confronting his cultural displacement and emotional dislocation inside a Spanish cantina in El Paso, Texas.

Mexican-American Literature Anthology Cover

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Anthologized Story Mexican-American Literature (100-Year Retrospective)

“Smeltertown”

Anthology of 30 landmark stories published over the last century

Anthology Review

“From the border towns on both sides of the Rio Grande to the barrios of East Los Angeles, this anthology sensitively evokes the tensions and joys of Mexican-American life and represents a significant literary voice and historical perspective.”

Set against the shadow of El Paso’s historic industrial smelter along the Rio Grande, “Smeltertown” provides an intimate look into the resilience, family bonds, and harsh socioeconomic realities faced by generations of working-class families on the border.

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Featured Fiction Pieces of the Heart: New Chicano Fiction

“Smeltertown” (Pieces of the Heart Edition)

Edited by Gary Soto • Featured alongside Sandra Cisneros and Ana Castillo

Critical Note

“A trailblazing anthology of fiction by Mexican-Americans living in the United States... Spirited, evocative, and memorable, Pieces of the Heart touches readers everywhere with the power of its characterizations and depth of vision.”

A showcase publication of Flores’s acclaimed narrative tracing the everyday lives, dignity, and struggles of a Mexican-American community living in the shadow of the border smelter.

Cantina del Gusanito Retrospective Anthology Cover

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Award-Winning Fiction First Place Winner • Judged by Sandra Cisneros

“Cantina del Gusanito”

From Friend of a Minor Poet and Other Stories • Edited by Stephanie Fetta

Anthology Retrospective

“This landmark collection of prize-winning fiction, poetry, and drama paints a historical and aesthetic panorama of Chicana/o and Latina/o letters over a twenty-five-year period.”

Part of the manuscript Friend of a Minor Poet and Other Stories, this story recounts a tense, atmospheric encounter between two young intellectuals—one Mexican, the other Mexican-American—in a “bad death” cantina in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. Selected by guest judge Sandra Cisneros, it was awarded first prize.