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Nash Candelaria

ナッシュ・キャンデラリア

Nash Candelaria

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1928-05-07 （Los Angeles, California, U.S.）
Died
2016-01-05 （Santa Fe, New Mexico, U.S.） age 87
Nationality
American
Languages
English
Residence History
Los Angeles (childhood/early adulthood) → New Mexico (adult life; considered home) → Santa Fe (later life)

Career

Occupations
novelist
Active Years
1977-2010

Education

University of California, Los Angeles
Chemistry / Chemistry
Degree: 理学士 (B.S.)
Country: United States
Studied chemistry; later took creative writing courses.
Los Angeles City College
Short story writing (courses)
Country: United States
Took night courses in short story writing.
University of Southern California
Playwriting courses
Country: United States
Took playwriting courses; studied under William DeMille.
University of California, Los Angeles
Television writing courses
Country: United States
Took television writing courses.

Awards

American Book Award
Work: Not by the Sword
Organization: American Book Award (awarding organization)
Result: Winner
Best Western Historical Novel (Finalist)
Work: Not by the Sword
Organization: Western Writers of America
Result: Finalist
Best Western Short Fiction (Finalist)
Work: The Dancing School
Organization: Western Writers of America
Result: Finalist
PEN Southwest Fiction Award (Finalist)
Work: A Daughter's a Daughter
Organization: PEN Southwest
Result: Finalist
International Latino Book Awards (Honorable Mention)
Work: Second Communion
Organization: International Latino Book Awards
Result: Honorable Mention

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Memories of the Alhambra

1977 novel

The first of the Rafa novels, following a middle-class family who move from Albuquerque to Los Angeles and exploring questions of identity and roots.

identitymigration and rootsfamily history

Not by the Sword

1982 historical novel

Takes the Rafa family back to the time of the Mexican War, depicting how New Mexico became American by conquest and exploring themes often ignored in accounts of Manifest Destiny.

history and conquestland and identitycollective memory

Inheritance of Strangers

1985 novel

Essentially a sequel to Not by the Sword, set around 1890 and focusing on New Mexico's Americanization with the coming of the railroad and eastern Anglos.

modernization and changeland and rightsfamily inheritance

The Day the Cisco Kid Shot John Wayne

1988 short story collection

A collection of short stories dealing with Southwestern and Mexican American experiences.

regional culturelegend and realityidentity

Leonor Park

1991 novel

Set prior to the Great Depression, it tells a story of land struggles filled with greed, intrigue, and skullduggery.

land disputeseconomy and powerethics and corruption

Uncivil Rights and Other Stories

1998 short story collection

A collection of stories addressing social and cultural themes.

rights and justicecultural conflict

A Daughter's a Daughter

2008 novel

A later novel focusing on family relationships and intergenerational conflict.

familyintergenerational relations

Second Communion

2010 memoir

A memoir reflecting on the author's life and literary career; received an honorable mention from the International Latino Book Awards.

memoirself-exploration

Bibliography

  • Memories of the Alhambra (1977)
  • Not by the Sword (1982)
  • Inheritance of Strangers (1985)
  • The Day the Cisco Kid Shot John Wayne (1988)
  • Leonor Park (1991)
  • Uncivil Rights and Other Stories (1998)
  • A Daughter's a Daughter (2008)
  • Second Communion (2010)
  • "John Wayne, Person and Persona" (essay, 2001)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
historical-novel techniquesdocumentary yet lyrical descriptionfocus on regional communities
Recurring Motifs
quest for identityland and belongingmulti-generational family history

Legacy

Regarded as a historical novelist of the Hispanic people of New Mexico, Candelaria's Rafa family quartet has been influential in portraying Mexican American memory and identity.

Archives

  • The Literary Encyclopedia - Nash Candelaria entry

Quotes

  • I don't see my writing as a political instrument. I don't belong to the Chicano Movement.
    Source: Interview / cited on Wikipedia article

Trivia

  • Born in Los Angeles but family traces to early settlers of New Mexico.
  • Held a degree in chemistry and worked as a research chemist in the pharmaceutical industry.
  • Served in the Air Force and later devoted himself to writing; best known for the Rafa family quartet.
  • Not by the Sword received an American Book Award (year not specified in source data).