Nash Candelaria

Though born in California, Nash Candelaria, who traces his ancestry back to the Hispanic founders of Albuquerque in 1706, considers himself “a New Mexican by heritage and sympathy.” After graduating from UCLA with a degree in chemistry, he worked at a pharmaceutical laboratory, but discovered he was happier writing. Twenty-nine years and seven unpublished novels later, success came with Memories of the Alhambra (Bilingual Press, 1977). Four more novels followed, including Not By the Sword (Bilingual Press, 1982), which won the American Book Award. From his Santa Fe home, Candelaria spoke with Tom Clagett about his recent memoir, Second Communion (Bilingual Press, 2010), and how he feels about being called “the historical novelist of the Hispanic people of New Mexico.”

Q: What inspired you to write a memoir?
I wanted to write my family history, to tell how it impacts on me, and the way I see the world and its various colors.

Your first sentence is “In a way you could say that my family was one of the causes of the Los Angeles riots of 1992.” That’s a bold statement.
It is. My family was the first to sell their house to a black family in our neighborhood. That was 1954. There’s more prejudice now than then.

You write about “growing up Mexican” in California, but you also mention the importance of “good old American competitiveness.”
I’m American first and, culturally, New Mexican Spanish second. I can be called Hispanic, Latino, or Chicano, but I have to emphasize I’m an American. My parents did not want their children speaking Spanish in California, but English. They wanted us more mainstream. Language identifies you. That had a great impact on me.

The Literary Encyclopedia calls you “the historical novelist of the Hispanic people of New Mexico.”
I guess I’m not averse to being tagged that way, but from what I’ve seen, my work complements Rudolfo Anaya’s [New Mexico author of Bless Me, Ultima]. He’s from New Mexico and writes from the inside. Coming from California, I write from the outside.

Do you see yourself as a Hispanic, Chicano, or American writer?
I see myself as an American writer. I hope my stories have universal aspects to them.

Do you see differences between Hispanic, Chicano, and American writers?
If you are trying to be artistic, your background doesn’t matter. You write what you know. You can read things from other countries and see something in them you recognize.

That universality?
Yes.

Where do you see the evolution of cultures in America heading?
People talk on cell phones, but they aren’t relating. We need to relate personally with one another, to get smarter and kinder.

You’ve said that the idea for your novel Memories of the Alhambra came to you in a flash.
I was listening to a recording of a song. In English, the title is “Memories of the Alhambra.” Suddenly, everything jelled emotionally and reminded me of what I saw in my life and my family, especially my father. It made me get to the root of what that was all about, along with the prejudicial attitudes people hold, as well as acceptance of themselves.

What’s the most gratifying aspect about writing for you?
Communicating what I feel deeply about. Hopefully, readers will see themselves in the work. My publisher is an academic press, so I don’t write for the money.

Tom Clagett, a.k.a. Thomas D. Clagett, is the author of William Friedkin: Films of Aberration, Obsession and Reality (Silman-James Press, 2003).

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