This Year, Our Family’s Día de los Muertos Altar Will Memorialize Those Who Have Died From the Coronavirus
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.
Border & Immigration
July 23, 2019
The Other Side of the Border
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.
Books
April 24, 2019
Exclusive Excerpt: Oscar Cásares’s Border Novel ‘Where We Come From’
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.
The Culture
August 24, 2016
Cheap Labor
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.
The Culture
February 11, 2014
All the Pretty Ponies
Growing up at Charro Days.
Texas History
October 31, 2012
My Name Is Cásares
And the story of how I started spelling it that way (with the accent) begins with a kidnapping.
Books
July 31, 2012
Hecho en Brownsville
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.
Border & Immigration
March 1, 2012
Home Run
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.
Border & Immigration
December 1, 2011
Living With the Border Fence
The border fence cuts through a Valley farmer's property, upending his family's life.
News & Politics
December 1, 2010
Imaginary Friends
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.
The Culture
March 31, 2010
The Departed
They say you can’t go home again—especially when pretty much your entire family has moved away.
Oscar Casares
July 31, 2009
Therapy Room
An exclusive excerpt from writer-at-large Oscar Casares's forthcoming first novel, Amigoland
Politics & Policy
February 1, 2009
Indivisible Man
Was January 20 really the dawn of a new and more inclusive age?
Oscar Casares
December 1, 2008
Grass Roots
My father was passionate about lawn care. Me? Not so much.
Oscar Casares
September 30, 2007
The Waiting Game
I was a server at Pappasito’s for a week. It felt like a lifetime.
Sports
November 1, 2006
Ready For Some Futbol?
Race and racism at the state soccer championship.
Oscar Casares
April 30, 2006
Pet Project
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?
Feature
December 1, 2005
Christmas in Brownsville
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.
Oscar Casares
August 31, 2005
Tall In the Saddle
My father’s not-so-brief, happy career on horseback.
Oscar Casares
May 31, 2005
Se Habla Español
But not without some difficulty—even though I’m a third-generation Mexican American.
Oscar Casares
March 1, 2005
In the Year 1974
I still remember the moment I discovered that a world existed outside Brownsville. I’ve been trying to explore it ever since.