The English Department’s Mary Rolling Reading Series begins the 2014-15 year with Ito Romo, who was born and raised on the border in Laredo, Texas. His recent work, dubbed “Chicano Gothic” and “Chicano Noir,” shows the dark and gritty life along Interstate 35 through South Texas, where his family has lived for nine generations. He is the author of The Border is Burning (2013) and El Puente / The Bridge (2001). He lives in San Antonio and teaches at St. Mary’s University.