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Early life and its influences on her writing: Misspelling

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{{short description|Author and academic}}
{{BLP sources|date=May 2018}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Joy Castro
| birth_date = 1967
| birth_place = [[Miami]], [[Florida]], U.S.
| education = {{ubl|[[Trinity University (Texas)|Trinity University]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])|[[Texas A&M University]] ([[Master of Arts|MA]], [[Doctor of Philosophy|PhD]])}}
| website = https://www.joycastro.com/
}}
'''Joy Castro'''<ref>{{Cite web |title=Joy Castro |url=https://www.joycastro.com/ |access-date=2023-01-02 |language=en}}</ref> is the award-winning author of the recently published novels, ''One Brilliant Flame,''<ref>{{Cite book |last=CASTRO |first=JOY |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1313904885 |title=ONE BRILLIANT FLAME : a novel. |date=2023 |publisher=LAKE UNION PUBLISHING |isbn=978-1-5420-3804-1 |location=[S.l.] |oclc=1313904885}}</ref> and ''Flight Risk'',<ref>{{Cite book |last=Castro |first=Joy |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1260291843 |title=Flight risk : a novel |date=2021 |isbn=978-1-5420-3192-9 |location=Seattle |oclc=1260291843}}</ref> a finalist<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-02-28 |title=International Thriller Writers Names Finalists for 2022 Thriller Awards {{!}} BookTrib. |url=https://booktrib.com/2022/02/28/international-thriller-writers-names-finalists-for-2022-thriller-awards/ |access-date=2023-01-02 |language=en-US}}</ref> for a 2022 International Thriller Award; the post-Katrina New Orleans literary thrillers ''Hell or High Water'',<ref>{{Cite book |last=Castro |first=Joy |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/744290595 |title=Hell or high water : a novel |date=2012 |publisher=Thomas Dunne Books |isbn=978-1-250-00457-4 |edition=1st |location=New York |oclc=744290595}}</ref> which received the [[Nebraska Book Award]], and ''Nearer Home'',<ref>{{Cite book |last=Castro |first=Joy |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/811597703 |title=Nearer home |date=2013 |isbn=978-1-250-00458-1 |edition=First |location=New York |oclc=811597703}}</ref> which have been published in France by Gallimard's historic Série Noire; the story collection ''How Winter Began'';<ref>{{Cite book |last=Castro |first=Joy |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/918855645 |title=How winter began : stories |date=2015 |isbn=978-0-8032-8481-4 |location=Lincoln |oclc=918855645}}</ref> the memoir ''The Truth Book'';<ref>{{Cite book |last=Castro |first=Joy |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/785862719 |title=The truth book : a memoir |date=2012 |publisher=University of Nebraska Press |isbn=978-0-8032-4062-9 |edition=1st Nebraska pbk. printing |location=Lincoln |oclc=785862719}}</ref> and the essay collection ''Island of Bones'',<ref>{{Cite book |last=Castro |first=Joy |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/808215605 |title=Island of bones : essays |date=2012 |publisher=University of Nebraska Press |isbn=978-0-8032-7144-9 |location=Lincoln |oclc=808215605}}</ref> which received the [[International Latino Book Awards|International Latino Book Award]]. She is also editor of the craft anthology ''Family Trouble: Memoirists on the Hazards and Rewards of Revealing Family''<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/855534603 |title=Family trouble : memoirists on the hazards and rewards of revealing family |date=2013 |publisher=University of Nebraska Press |others=Joy Castro |isbn=978-1-4619-3723-4 |location=Lincoln |oclc=855534603}}</ref> and the founding series editor of Machete,<ref name=castro_ohio>{{Cite web |date=2022-12-07 |title=Joy Castro of Ohio State University Press |url=https://www.pw.org/agents_editors_recommend/joy_castro_of_ohio_state_university_press |access-date=2023-01-02 |website=Poets & Writers |language=en}}</ref> a series in innovative literary nonfiction at The Ohio State University Press. She served as the guest judge of CRAFT's first Creative Nonfiction Award,<ref>{{Cite web |last=CRAFT |date=2020-12-15 |title=Interview: Joy Castro |url=https://www.craftliterary.com/2020/12/15/interview-joy-castro/ |access-date=2023-01-02 |website=CRAFT |language=en-US}}</ref> and her work has appeared in venues including ''Poets & Writers'',<ref name=castro_ohio/> ''Writer's Digest'',<ref>{{Cite web |last=Castro |first=Joy |title=Writing Brilliant Essays |url=https://www.writersdigest.com/write-better-nonfiction/writing-brilliant-essays |access-date=2023-01-02 |website=Writer's Digest |date=12 November 2021 |language=en}}</ref> ''Literary Hub'',<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-09-02 |title=On the Life and Under-Recognized Work of Margery Latimer, Visionary Modernist Writer |url=https://lithub.com/on-the-life-and-under-recognized-work-of-margery-latimer-visionary-modernist-writer/ |access-date=2023-01-02 |website=Literary Hub |language=en-US}}</ref> ''Crime Reads'',<ref name=crimereads>{{Cite web |date=2021-11-01 |title=How Crime Fiction Can Help Us Understand The Many Layers of Violence in Society |url=https://crimereads.com/how-crime-fiction-can-help-us-understand-violence/ |access-date=2023-01-02 |website=CrimeReads |language=en-US}}</ref> ''The Rumpus'',<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rumpus Exclusive: Cover Reveal For Flight Risk - The Rumpus.net |url=https://therumpus.net/2021/05/25/rumpus-exclusive-cover-reveal-for-flight-risk/ |access-date=2023-01-02 |website=therumpus.net|date=25 May 2021 }}</ref> ''Ploughshares'',<ref>{{Cite web |title=Spring 2019 {{!}} Ploughshares |url=https://www.pshares.org/issues/spring-2019 |access-date=2023-01-02 |website=www.pshares.org}}</ref> The ''Brooklyn Rail,''<ref name=brooklynrail>{{Cite web |last=Castro |first=Joy |date=2022-06-01 |title=Ein Haus am Meer |url=https://brooklynrail.org/2022/06/fiction/Ein-Haus-am-Meer |access-date=2023-01-02 |website=The Brooklyn Rail |language=en-US}}</ref> ''Senses of Cinema'',<ref>{{Cite web |title=Joy Castro – Senses of Cinema |date=12 February 2004 |url=https://www.sensesofcinema.com/author/joy-castro/ |access-date=2023-01-02 |language=en-US}}</ref> ''Salon'',<ref>{{Cite web |last=Castro |first=Joy |date=2014-06-13 |title=Donna Tartt's multicultural fantasy: How "The Goldfinch" got away with its disgraceful racial politics |url=https://www.salon.com/2014/06/13/donna_tartts_multicultural_fantasy_how_the_goldfinch_got_away_with_its_disgraceful_racial_politics/ |access-date=2023-01-02 |website=Salon |language=en}}</ref> ''Gulf Coast,''<ref>{{Cite web |title=Racial and Ethnic Justice in the Creative Writing Course |url=https://gulfcoastmag.org/online/fall-2015/racial-and-ethnic-justice-in-the-creative-writing-course/ |access-date=2023-01-02 |website=gulfcoastmag.org |language=en}}</ref> ''Brevity'',<ref>{{Cite web |title=How We See One Another: Our Guest Editors Castro and Sukrungruang in Conversation {{!}} Brevity: A Journal of Concise Literary Nonfiction |url=https://brevitymag.com/craft-essays/how-we-see-one-another/ |access-date=2023-01-02 |website=brevitymag.com}}</ref> ''Afro-Hispanic Review,''<ref>{{Cite web |title=Afro-Hispanic Review |url=https://www.afrohispanicreview.com/ |access-date=2023-01-02 |website=Afro-Hispanic Review |language=en-US}}</ref> ''Seneca Review'',<ref>{{Cite web |title=Seneca Review: Back Issues |url=https://www.hws.edu/offices/senecareview/back-issues.aspx |access-date=2023-01-02 |website=www.hws.edu |language=en}}</ref> ''Los Angeles Review of Books'',<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-03-05 |title=Los Angeles Review of Books |url=https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/know-that-i-am-perfectly-well-and-that-i-always-find-a-way-the-revolutionary-letters-of-che-guevara/ |access-date=2023-01-02 |website=Los Angeles Review of Books |language=en}}</ref> and ''The New York Times Magazine''.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Castro |first=Joy |date=2005-08-14 |title=Turn of Faith |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/14/magazine/turn-of-faith.html |access-date=2023-01-02 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> A former Writer-in-Residence at [[Vanderbilt University]], she is currently the Willa Cather Professor of English and Ethnic Studies (Latinx Studies) at the [[University of Nebraska–Lincoln|University of Nebraska-Lincoln]], where she directs the Institute for Ethnic Studies.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Joy Castro {{!}} Department of English |url=https://www.unl.edu/english/joy-castro |access-date=2023-01-02 |website=www.unl.edu}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Erotic Desire, Trauma, and Political Choices: An Interview with Joy Castro Regarding Her Novel, One Brilliant Flame By Daniel A. Olivas |url=https://www.latinobookreview.com/erotic-desire-trauma-and-political-choices-an-interview-with-joy-castro-regarding-her-novel-one-brilliant-flame-by-daniel-a-olivas-latino-book-review.html |access-date=2024-08-27 |website=LATINO BOOK REVIEW |language=en-US}}</ref>

== Early life and its influences on her writing ==
Of her childhood in Miami, London (UK), and, from age 7 through high school graduation in [[West Virginia]], Castro has said, "I came from a very restricted, oppressive background<ref>{{Cite web |last=Padilla |first=Kayla |title=Q&A with author Joy Castro |url=https://trinitonian.com/2021/03/24/qa-with-author-joy-castro/ |access-date=2023-01-02 |website=Trinitonian|date=24 March 2021 }}</ref> — I was first-gen, from a background of poverty, and from a [[Christian fundamentalism|fundamentalist Christian]] sect that did not believe, for example, in evolution or in voting — and yet somehow I had always been hungry for the life of the mind." Her award-winning work in nonfiction and fiction has explored her own history of abuse and political and social commentary, often under the guise of crime fiction, describing it as "the genre of justice."<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Fallout of Disaster |url=https://chapter16.org/the-fallout-of-disaster/ |access-date=2023-01-02 |website=chapter16.org |date=18 January 2018 |language=en-US}}</ref> Moreover, "Socrates understood the power of revealing stories of violence, particularly violence done by the powerful, and he feared its effects upon the polis: the disruptive impact troll upon the state of telling precisely the kinds of micropolitical stories of violence that crime fiction features. Telling our stories can reshape the world."<ref name=crimereads/>

== Critical reception for recent works ==
Of ''Flight Risk'', '''Melissa Scholes Young''' said, in ''[[Fiction Writers Review]]:''<ref>{{Cite web |last=Young |first=Melissa Scholes |title=Reclaiming Our Roots: A Conversation with Joy Castro |url=https://fictionwritersreview.com/interview/reclaiming-our-roots-a-conversation-with-joy-castro/ |access-date=2023-01-02 |website=Fiction Writers Review}}</ref> "Even when relying on our own roots, we are excavating the generations who walked this road before we set a foot upon it. Reclaiming those roots as part of our own identity rather than covering them for the smoother path is also an act of revolution, especially when that existence was impoverished. When the narrator in ''Flight Risk'' comments that hunger is a secret to keep and claims the shame of wanting food in an abundant world, there is a revelation that readers must wrestle with their own indictment in. If poverty is a feminist issue, we must not look away but rather consider how discriminations and prejudice of gender persist. ''Flight Risk'' rises to this challenge and reveals hope for a world where women might be valued and self-determining. There is beauty and peace in Isabel Morales’ vision of justice for herself and the land she loves."

Introducing Castro's recent short fiction, "Ein Haus am Meer," in ''[[The Brooklyn Rail]],''<ref name=brooklynrail/> Will Chancellor said, "the story's pacing, mood, and questioning achieve the aim of great ekphrasis: to capture transitory, elusive beauty and communicate its vital energy."

Castro's essays in particular are often adopted for course curriculums, and Megan Culhane Galbraith said, "I just used this piece by Joy Castro in my workshop last night. We discussed resilience and resistance and writing about risky subjects."<ref>{{Cite tweet|number=1600850231028875264|user=megangalbraith|title=I just used this piece by @_JoyCastro in my workshop last night. We discussed resilience and resistance and writing about risky subjects. I'm grateful for her words here @poetswritersinc and for her belief in mine.|author=Megan Culhane Galbraith|date=December 8, 2022|access-date=2023-01-02}}</ref>

==References==
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Castro, Joy}}
[[Category:21st-century American memoirists]]
[[Category:American women short story writers]]
[[Category:American short story writers]]
[[Category:Texas A&M University alumni]]
[[Category:American adoptees]]
[[Category:University of Nebraska–Lincoln faculty]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American women poets]]
[[Category:American women memoirists]]
[[Category:American biographers]]
[[Category:American academics of English literature]]
[[Category:American women academics]]
[[Category:21st-century American women]]
[[Category:1967 births]]

Joy Castro - Revision history

imported>Swinub: /* Early life and its influences on her writing */ Misspelling