Oscar Casares

Oct 14, 2020 — By Oscar Casares

The ofrenda we build to honor loved ones will include not only our distant past but also the very sorrow that we’re living through now.

Jul 23, 2019 — By Oscar Casares

Frustrated by the perception of the border as a lawless land, two native sons embarked on a 1,200-mile journey to capture, through a series of images and letters, the region’s untold stories.

Apr 24, 2019 — By Oscar Casares

In Texas Monthly writer-at-large Oscar Cásares’s forthcoming novel, a retired high school teacher in Brownsville is reluctantly pulled into the world of human trafficking.

Aug 24, 2016 — By Oscar Casares

When I needed a new home office, I thought I’d save money by hiring a draftsman. I got what I paid for—and more.

Feb 11, 2014 — By Oscar Casares

Growing up at Charro Days.

Oct 31, 2012 — By Oscar Casares

And the story of how I started spelling it that way (with the accent) begins with a kidnapping.

Jul 31, 2012 — By Oscar Casares

The grand opening of a new H-E-B in McAllen drew crowds—including several who showed up to hear a native son read from his collection of locally set short stories.

Mar 1, 2012 — By Oscar Casares

A jogging path along the Rio Grande was a treasured, secret place—until it became part of the front lines in a war I still don’t understand.

Dec 1, 2011 — By Oscar Casares

The border fence cuts through a Valley farmer's property, upending his family's life.

Dec 1, 2010 — By Oscar Casares

Brownsville’s first federal judge was a legendary figure in my house. So legendary that I never believed my father when he said he knew the man.

Mar 31, 2010 — By Oscar Casares

They say you can’t go home again—especially when pretty much your entire family has moved away.

Jul 31, 2009 — By Oscar Casares

An exclusive excerpt from writer-at-large Oscar Casares's forthcoming first novel, Amigoland

Feb 1, 2009 — By Oscar Casares

Was January 20 really the dawn of a new and more inclusive age?

Dec 1, 2008 — By Oscar Casares

My father was passionate about lawn care. Me? Not so much.

Sep 30, 2007 — By Oscar Casares

I was a server at Pappasito’s for a week. It felt like a lifetime.

Nov 1, 2006 — By Oscar Casares

Race and racism at the state soccer championship.

Apr 30, 2006 — By Oscar Casares

My dog, Flaco, sleeps on a bed from Pottery Barn, gets three walks a day, and very nearly had his teeth cleaned for the princely sum of $208. What would my father say?

Dec 1, 2005 — By Oscar Casares

My father, who had grown up on a farm, used to talk about his family’s killing a pig for the tamales, but this was back in the twenties.

Aug 31, 2005 — By Oscar Casares

My father’s not-so-brief, happy career on horseback.

May 31, 2005 — By Oscar Casares

But not without some difficulty—even though I’m a third-generation Mexican American.

Mar 1, 2005 — By Oscar Casares

I still remember the moment I discovered that a world existed outside Brownsville. I’ve been trying to explore it ever since.