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{{Infobox person
| name = Sebastian Castillo
| image =
| caption =
| birth_name =
| birth_date =
| birth_place = [[Caracas]], [[Venezuela]]
| death_date =
| death_place =
| citizenship = [[Venezuela]], [[United States]]
| education = [[Temple University]] (MFA), [[Manhattan College]] (BA)
| occupation = {{hlist|[[poet]]|[[novelist]]}}
| yearsactive =
| employer = [[Temple University]], [[University of the Arts, Philadelphia]], [[University of Pennsylvania]]
| relatives =
| website = https://sebastian-castillo.com/
}}
'''Sebastian Castillo''' is a writer and teacher born in Caracas, Venezuela and currently based in Philadelphia, PA.<ref>{{Cite web |date=July 9, 2025 |title=Sebastian Castillo |url=https://www.pw.org/writers_recommend/sebastian_castillo |access-date=July 31, 2025 |website=Poets & Writers |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=July 26, 2025 |title=Review {{!}} The narrator of this novel is trained in — and ruined by — philosophy |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2025/07/26/fresh-green-life-sebastian-castillo-review/ |access-date=July 31, 2025 |work=The Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}}</ref> His 2025 novel ''Fresh, Green Life'' was the 2025 [[Los Angeles Review of Books|''Los Angeles Review of Books'']] Summer Book Club Pick.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web |date=May 28, 2025 |title='Fresh, Green Life' by Sebastian Castillo |url=https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/fresh-green-life-by-sebastian-castillo |access-date=July 31, 2025 |website=Los Angeles Review of Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |first1=Emma |last1=Alpern |first2=Jasmine |last2=Vojdani |date=June 2, 2025 |title=8 New Books You Should Read This June |url=https://www.vulture.com/article/new-books-to-read-released-june-2025.html |access-date=July 31, 2025 |website=Vulture |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Sebastian Castillo's Book Notes music playlist for his novel Fresh, Green Life |url=https://largeheartedboy.com/2025/07/09/sebastian-castillos-book-notes-music-playlist-for-his-novel-fresh-green-life/ |access-date=July 31, 2025 |website=largeheartedboy.com}}</ref>

== Early life and education ==
Castillo was born in Caracas, Venezuela. He grew up in [[Mount Vernon, New York|Mount Vernon]], New York, and later moved to Philadelphia.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-06-24 |title=Fresh, Green Life: A Novel {{!}} WORD |url=https://wordbookstores.com/book/9781593767914 |access-date=2025-11-19 |website=wordbookstores.com |language=en}}</ref>

He studied English and Philosophy as an undergraduate at [[Manhattan College]]<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-11-19 |title=Manhattan University Celebrates Distinguished Alumnus and Acclaimed Novelist Sebastian Castillo ’11 {{!}} Manhattan University |url=https://manhattan.edu/news/archive/2025/11/distinguished-alumnus-and-acclaimed-novelist-sebastian-castillo.php |access-date=2026-05-28 |website=manhattan.edu |language=en}}</ref> and then earned a MFA in Fiction from [[Temple University]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Manhattan University Celebrates Distinguished Alumnus and Acclaimed Novelist Sebastian Castillo ’11 |url=https://manhattan.edu/news/archive/2025/11/distinguished-alumnus-and-acclaimed-novelist-sebastian-castillo.php |website=Manhattan University |publisher=Manhattan University |access-date=30 November 2025}}</ref> He now teaches, or has taught at, Temple University, the [[University of Pennsylvania]], University of the Arts, and Moore College of Art and Design.

== Career ==
Sebastian Castillo has written for publications such as [[Electric Literature|''Electric Literature'']],<ref>{{Cite web |date=May 17, 2016 |title=Hecho En Venezuela: The Private Poetics of Narrative, Memory, and Lies |url=https://electricliterature.com/hecho-en-venezuela-the-private-poetics-of-narrative-memory-and-lies/ |access-date=July 31, 2025 |website=Electric Literature |language=en-US}}</ref> ''JOYLAND'',<ref>{{Cite web |date=April 28, 2023 |title=SALMON |url=https://joylandpublishing.com/fiction/salmon/ |access-date=July 31, 2025 |website=JOYLAND PUBLISHING |language=en-US}}</ref> the [[Tyrant Books|New York Tyrant]],<ref>{{Cite web |date=August 24, 2020 |title=Local Favorite by Sebastian Castillo |url=https://www.magazine.nytyrant.com/local-favorite-sebastian-castillo/ |access-date=July 31, 2025 |website=NY Tyrant |language=en}}</ref> and [[The New York Times]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=2025-11-18 |title=The Secret to Getting Through Big, Dense, Difficult Books |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/18/magazine/long-difficult-books-clubs.html |access-date=2025-11-19 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Castillo |first=Sebastian |date=2025-11-18 |title=The Secret to Getting Through Big, Dense, Difficult Books |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/18/magazine/long-difficult-books-clubs.html |access-date=2026-05-28 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> He was shortlisted for BOMB's Fiction Contest.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Interview with Sebastian Castillo |work=The Journal |url=https://thejournalmag.org/archives/20445 |access-date=July 31, 2025 |language=en-US}}</ref> Castillo's work has been described as [[autofiction]]al and surrealist.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sovinski |first=Theodore |date=July 31, 2025 |title=Vow of Silence: On Sebastian Castillo's 'Fresh, Green Life' |url=https://clereviewofbooks.com/vow-of-silence-on-sebastian-castillos-fresh-green-life/ |access-date=July 31, 2025 |website=Cleveland Review of Books |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=July 25, 2025 |title=Sebastian Castillo's “Fresh, Green Life” |url=https://lareviewofbooks.org/av/sebastian-castillos-fresh-green-life |access-date=July 31, 2025 |website=Los Angeles Review of Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Wayne |first=Teddy |date=June 10, 2025 |title=Lit Hub Asks: 5 Authors, 7 Questions, No Wrong Answers |url=https://lithub.com/lit-hub-asks-5-authors-7-questions-no-wrong-answers-june-2025/ |access-date=July 31, 2025 |website=Literary Hub |language=en-US}}</ref>

In [[The Oxonian Review|''The Oxonian Review'']], Marie Ungar describes ''Fresh, Green Life'' as a "parody of and love letter to academic life" grappling with the "worth of writing and thinking" given economic alienation and existential absurdity.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Nothing Impossible Happens |url=https://oxonianreview.com/articles/nothing-impossible-happens |access-date=July 31, 2025 |website=The Oxonian Review |language=en}}</ref>

In 2025, his first book, ''49 Venezuelan Novels'', was translated into Spanish by the Mexican writer Elisa Díaz Castelo, for La barba metafísica''.''<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-11-13 |title=Recommended Books: November 2025 |url=https://www.vol1brooklyn.com/2025/11/13/recommended-books-november-2025/ |access-date=2025-11-19 |website=Vol. 1 Brooklyn |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Bradley |first=Danielle |date=2026-01-27 |title=Sebastian Castillo’s 49 Venezuelan Novels {{!}} The Brooklyn Rail |url=https://brooklynrail.org/2026/02/books/sebastian-castillo-49-venezuelan-novels/ |access-date=2026-05-28 |website=brooklynrail.org |language=en}}</ref>

== Works ==
* ''49 Venezuelan Novels.'' Bottlecap Press, 2017.
* ''Not I.'' Word West, 2020.
* ''SALMON''. Shabby Doll House, 2023.
* ''The Zoo of Thinking.'' Smooth Friend, 2024.
* ''Fresh, Green Life''. Soft Skull, 2025.

== References ==
<references />

== External links ==
* [https://sebastian-castillo.com/ Sebastian Castillo - About]
* [https://x.com/bartlebytaco?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor Twitter]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Castillo, Sebastian}}
[[Category:21st-century male writers]]
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Nationality missing]]
[[Category:Writers from Caracas]]
[[Category:Novelists from Philadelphia]]
[[Category:Temple University faculty]]

Sebastian Castillo - Revision history

Deleatur yhe: Created page