What is the childhood of a poet or novelist like?
I grew up poor, in both México and in the U.S. When I tell people that I grew up with two books, the Bible and the TV Guide, I’m telling the truth. And let me add to that that we didn’t consult either book much since we were neither religious nor television addicts. Because there were always so many of us (nineteen at one point) crowding the small space of an apartment, we preferred the outdoors. Despite all this I was a very melancholy child, withdrawn, especially after the death of my mother: I was 12 years old, she was 31. All of this must have contributed to my need for a different view of the world, which I found eventually, through reading. When did you begin writing, and why? I discovered books in the school library. I had to find a space of my own in my overpopulated household, so I lost myself in the quiet pages of Agatha Christie murder mysteries and Jules Verne adventure stories. It was the best escape from all the frustrations that plagued a family in constant state of fina
