Mario Suárez (1925–1998) was one of the earliest

Chicano Chicano (masculine form) or Chicana (feminine form) is an ethnic identity for Mexican Americans that emerged from the Chicano Movement. In the 1960s, ''Chicano'' was widely reclaimed among Hispanics in the building of a movement toward politic ...

writers. He was one of five children born to Mexican

immigrant Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short- ...

s to the

U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

state of

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

, Francisco Suárez and Carmen Minjárez Suárez. After high school, he joined the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

and served during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. In the military, he was stationed off the coast of

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

, and also served in

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. After the war, he returned to Arizona where he enrolled in the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...

. In 1947, while still an undergraduate, he began writing sketches for ''Arizona Quarterly'' magazine. Suárez later went on to become a journalist and a college educator, and publishing in ''Arizona Quarterly''. Most of Suárez's literature takes place in "El Hoyo" (The Hole), the name of the

Mexican American Mexican Americans are Americans of full or partial Mexico, Mexican descent. In 2022, Mexican Americans comprised 11.2% of the US population and 58.9% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexican Americans were born in the Unite ...

barrio ''Barrio'' () is a Spanish language, Spanish word that means "Quarter (urban subdivision), quarter" or "neighborhood". In the modern Spanish language, it is generally defined as each area of a city delimited by functional (e.g. residential, comm ...

Tucson, Arizona Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...

, where he was raised. Often overlooked in the "canon" of Chicano Literature for writers such as

Rudolfo Anaya Rudolfo Anaya (October 30, 1937June 28, 2020) was an American author. Noted for his 1972 novel '' Bless Me, Ultima'', Anaya was considered one of the founders of the canon of contemporary Chicano and New Mexican literature. The themes and cult ...

and

Rolando Hinojosa-Smith Romeo Rolando Hinojosa-Smith (January 21, 1929 – April 19, 2022) was an American novelist, essayist, poet and the Ellen Clayton Garwood professor in the English Department at the University of Texas at Austin. He was noted for authoring the '' ...

, Mario Suárez's writing pre-dates the Chicano literature movement in the 1960s and 1970s. Many of his sketches of Mexican immigrant and working class life were published in the mid- to late-1950s. From an anthropological standpoint, his work should be heralded for telling the Mexican immigrant story and documenting life in El Hoyo before its demise.

Bibliography

* ''Chicano Sketches: Short Stories''. Edited by Francisco A. Lomelí, Cecilia Cota-Robles Suárez, and Juan José Casillas-Núñez. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 2004.

References

The Heath Anthology of American Literature, Fifth Edition
{{DEFAULTSORT:Suarez, Mario United States Navy personnel of World War II American writers of Mexican descent Writers from Tucson, Arizona University of Arizona alumni 1925 births 1998 deaths Hispanic and Latino American journalists 20th-century American short story writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers American expatriates in Brazil