Albino Carrillo

Albino (Al) Carrillo was born on July 6th, 1964 to Rudolfo (Rudy) Carrillo and Virginia Trujillo Carrillo in El Paso, Texas, along with his identical twin brother Rudolfo (Rudy) Carrillo. Albino grew up in Gallup and Albuquerque, New Mexico with his parents, his twin brother Rudy and their younger sister Ysela Carrillo.

Albino attended the University of New Mexico where he obtained a Bachelor’s degree in English/Creative Writing in 1986. After graduating, he lived in Alamosa, Colorado for a time while working for AmeriCorps. He went on to pursue a Masters of Fine Arts in Creative Writing at Arizona State University in Tempe. The title of his Master’s practicum was An Octave of the High Desert. It was in Tempe that he met his future wife, Caryn Cathlene Connelly, originally from Mar Lin, Pennsylvania, who was pursuing a Master’s degree in Spanish Linguistics. In 1993, the two moved to Upstate New York where Albino held a two year Post Doctoral Fellowship at Union College in Schenectady. They were married on April 30, 1994, in Niskayuna, NY, and welcomed their first child, Kiara Isabel Connelly, into the world on November 30, 1994.

After a couple of years in New York, Caryn was accepted into the PhD program in Hispanic and Luso-Brazilian Languages, Literatures & Cultures at the University of Minnesota. The three moved to Minneapolis in Summer of 1995 and had their second child, Cruz Epifanio Carrillo on September 26, 1996, while living in St. Paul. While in Minnesota, he held a position as a lecturer in the English Department at University of Minnesota where he taught composition, literature and creative writing classes. During his time in the Twin Cities, he wrote the many poems that would become part of his first published book of poetry, In the City of Smoking Mirrors, published in 2004 by the University of Arizona Press.

The family lived in the Twin Cities area for eight years before putting down roots in Dayton, Ohio, where Albino came to work as a Creative Writing Professor at the University of Dayton. During his time at the University of Dayton he published his second volume of poetry Uranium Days through Saudade Press in 2015.

Albino was loved and respected by his many students throughout the years, who knew him not only as a professor, but as a mentor and guide with whom they would discuss their writing, rock and roll music, philosophy, and more. They deeply appreciated his honest and heartfelt approach when giving guidance on their writing or advice about life and existence. He never failed to support his students, who described him as generous, wise, and having a great sense of humor. He truly left an indelible mark on the lives of the countless students he taught and mentored over the years.

Albino was preceded in death by his mother Virginia, who died on October 20, 1996, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and his father Rudolfo, who died on December 2, 2002, also in Albuquerque. He is survived by his wife Caryn and children Kiara and Cruz, his twin brother Rudy Carrillo and his wife Samantha of Albuquerque, NM, his younger sister Ysela Carrillo M.D, of Colorado Springs CO, his maternal aunt, JoAnn Soto of Tucson, AZ, and extended family members in Las Cruces and Albuquerque, as well as friends from all across the country.

The family plans to travel to New Mexico to spread the ashes and celebrate Albino's life with family who lives out west.

The family is also planning a party/celebration of life in lieu of a funeral service sometime in the spring; details on the date are to be determined.

The University of Dayton also will also hold a memorial service and have a stone dedicated to Albino in their Serenity Pines Garden area.

Recordings of Carrillo reading his early work, in Albuquerque, New Mexico at the legendary Living Batch Bookstore, are available at:

https://duende.bandcamp.com/album/albino-carrillo-early-poems-nelson-begay-surprise-visit-lance-henson?fbclid=IwAR2TXHGJ74b1BxBFrnpXQVlTP7l--OqKxmyLsfGkkhd5-k8qUZRJfptzFuw