Campus
Academics
The event is free and open to the public and is sponsored by the Distinguished Visiting Writers Series and the Student Fee Council. A reception will follow.
Romo will read from his new novel, “Filth Eaters,” a work of literary horror that follows a thousand-year lineage of mestizo vampires from the Indus River Delta and medieval Spain through colonial Mexico and into a flooded, cyberpunk New York City in 2069.
Blending Gothic horror, historical fiction, and even science fiction, the novel uses vampire lore to explore colonialism, empire, racial identity, greed, climate collapse, and the human desire for love and belonging.
“Ito Romo’s vampires step across centuries with dignity, but with desperation, too—you don’t want to get close to them, but you can’t look away,” said acclaimed horror writer Stephen Graham Jones.
Associate Professor of Creative Writing Chase Dearinger is excited to introduce Romo’s work to students and the community.
“We’re thrilled to be having Ito come to campus to talk to our students and read from his work,” Dearinger said. “He’s one of my favorite living writers—every single thing he writes is an absolute gut-punch.”
Romo was born and raised on the border in Laredo, Texas, where his family has lived for 11 generations. His writing, sometimes described as “Chicano Gothic” and “Chicano Noir,” often portrays the dark and gritty lives of people and communities along Interstate 35 in South Texas.
A former professor of English Language and Literature at St. Mary’s, he was named one of Texas Monthly’s “Ten Writers to Watch” and was inducted into the Texas Institute of Letters in 2019. In addition to “Filth Eaters,” published by Deep Vellum, his books include “The Border Is Burning” and “El Puente / The Bridge,” both published by the University of New Mexico Press. He lives in San Antonio.
— Pitt State —
