Francisco CantúSpeaker and Booking Agent Information

Francisco Cantú is a revered author, essayist, translator, and former U.S. Border Patrol agent whose work illuminates the human realities of the U.S.-Mexico border. Raised in the Southwest with Mexican heritage, he studied international relations before joining the Border Patrol in 2008, serving four years in the deserts of Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. He patrolled smuggling routes, tracked migrants, and confronted the moral weight of enforcement. His 2018 debut memoir, “The Line Becomes a River: Dispatches from the Border”, interweaves personal journals with reflections on policy, violence, family, and friendship. It was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and became a bestseller for its nuanced portrayal of the border’s complexities. A former Fulbright fellow, Cantú has earned the Whiting Award, the Pushcart Prize, the Art for Justice Fellowship, and the Luis Leal Award for Chicano Literature. His essays and translations appear in The New Yorker, Granta, n+1, and on This American Life. He now teaches creative writing at the University of Arizona in Tucson, coordinating the Field Studies in Writing Program and the DETAINED archive, focusing on border justice and environmental issues.