William Archila

William Archila is a Latino poet and writer. Born in Santa Ana, El Salvador, Archila immigrated to the United States in 1980 with his family. Archila eventually became an English teacher and he earned an MFA from the University of Oregon.

His first book of poems, The Art of Exile, was published by Bilingual Review Press in 2009. Archila's poetry has appeared in AGNI, Blue Mesa Review, Crab Orchard Review, Notre Dame Review, Poet Lore, Poetry International, The Cortland Review, The Georgia Review, and The Los Angeles Review.

Biography Early life William Archila was born in Santa Ana, El Salvador in 1968. He immigrated with his family to the United States in November 1980 due to the Civil War that was occurring in his country. Archila was only twelve when he was forced to move to Los Angeles, California.

Twelve years after his arrival to the U.S. a peace treaty was signed, giving Archila the opportunity to return to his homeland. The Chapultepec Peace Accords brought peace to El Salvador in 1992 after more than a decade of civil war. At the age of twenty-four Archila returned to El Salvador with the hopes of reconnecting to the people, culture, and music of the place he saw as home. His disconnect was a direct result of both the aftermath of the Civil War and his long separation from his country because a lot had changed culturally and physically since the last time he had lived there.

After his visit, Archila returned to California and lived between Los Angeles and San Francisco. 2015 Letras Latinas/Red Hen Poetry Prize for The Gravedigger's Archaeology Emerging Writer Fellowship Award from The Writer's Center in Bethesda, MD. His book was featured in "First Things First: the Fifth Annual Debut Poets Roundup" in Poets & Writers.

Interviews Catalina Gomez, "Hispanic-American Poet William Archila Reading from his Works," U.S. Poetry at the Library of Congress (February 8, 2016): 50.

Works Art of Exile The Art of Exile was published by the Bilingual Review Press in 2009.

The Gravedigger's Archaeology The Gravedigger's Archaeology was published by the Red Hen Press in 2015 (red hen). This book is a collection of poems that provides detailed descriptions of the feeling of exile felt by Archila by focusing on his migrant experience. The book is concentrated on the US immigrant and the difficulties they face when trying to find their identity in places where they feel no connection to. Throughout his poems, Archila moves between the past and the present thereby giving insight into the physical and spiritual effects that the processes of displacement and exile have on one's life. Through his poems, Archila allows his readers to travel through the past and present, by providing descriptions of the civil war and its aftermath. In a lyrical language, Archila's poems reveal his desire to gain peace with his feeling of exile and he does so by taking his readers on a journey to find these answers, which can only be found in the ground.