Nasario García was born in Bernalillo, New Mexico, and grew up in the Río Puerco Valley southeast of Chaco Canyon. He earned BA and MA degrees in Spanish and Portuguese from the University of New Mexico, and a PhD in Nineteenth Century Spanish literature from the University of Pittsburgh. Folklorist, oral historian, short story writer, poet, and translator, he has authored more than thirty award-winning books. Among them: Hoe, Heaven, and Hell: My Boyhood in Rural New Mexico, International Latino Book Award; Grandma's Santo on Its Head: El Santo patas arriba de mi abuelita, Western Heritage Award; and Grandma Lale's Tamales: A Christmas Story (bilingual), Pablita Velarde Award, Historical Society of New Mexico. "Nasario remembers the Río Puerco," a documentary by filmmaker Shebana Coelho, debuted in New Mexico and was also shown at the University of Alcalá de Henares in Spain. Dr. García is the recipient of the first-time ever Lifetime Achievement Award from the Historical Society of New Mexico, for his "...stellar contributions-as an educator, community activist, and author-to New Mexico history."
