CARACOL. Caracol, a journal published in San Antonio from September 1974 until October 1977, was a project of the Texas Institute for Educational Development, It began as a monthly, then became bimonthly with the July-August 1977 issue. The last issue was the following one, September-October 1977. Caracol. The original staff consisted of Cecilio García-Camarillo (editor), Linda García and Mia García-Camarillo (layout), Cesar Augusto Martínez (photography and original woodcuts), Jorge Ramírez (staff), and Jaime Bustos (illustrator). The stated purpose of Caracol was to be a forum to raise Chicanoqv consciousness and to present contemporary politics and the arts from a Hispanic point of view. The title, which means "snail," suggested a spiral of self-expansion and was inspired by Oliver Wendell Holmes's poem "The Chambered Nautilus." Contributors included the poet Alurista (March 1975), the New Mexico novelist Rudolfo Anaya (March 1975), the dramatist Luis Valdez (May 1975), and the short-story writer Tomás Riveraqv (August 1977). Caracol was issued on newsprint in an 8½ x 11 format, bound with staples, and averaging thirty to forty pages. It printed original stories, poems, and drama and political commentary, women's concerns, reviews of Mexican-American theater and music, and cartoons. After November 1976 Caracol devoted entire issues to a single theme. One issue was a children's coloring book, and another issue was entirely short stories.
Russell H. Goodyear
