Back to All Events

Disruption of the Literary Canon: On Missing Sergio Pitol (Chicago, IL)

  • Open Books - Pilsen (map)
Pitol-D.png

MAKE Literary Production’s 5th annual Lit & Luz Festival of Language, Literature, and Art, themed "Assembly," is an ambitious exchange between Mexico City and Chicago. The weeklong festival takes place at over a dozen arts venues and universities throughout Chicago, October 13th-20th. The following March, a similar series of events are held in Mexico City. Programs include readings, conversations, and our signature event, the “Live Magazine Show”—which makes its Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago debut this year. #litluz / www.litluz.org

Main Facebook event page:
http://bit.ly/LLFBMain
________________________________

Disruption of the Literary Canon: On Missing Sergio Pitol

This roundtable conversation, lead by Dr. García Chávez takes a critical look at literary tradition in the United States, asks why so few Latin American authors are included, and what that could mean for how the US collectively views Latin American citizens and culture. Mexican authors Julián Herbert and Fernanda Melchor join the conversation to discuss the recently passed and iconic Mexican writer, Sergio Pitol, and the dominating presence of American literature.

More on the participants:

Julián Herbert
Julián Herbert (b. 1971, Mexico) is a writer, musician, and distinguished professor who has won many prizes in his career as a novelist such as the Premio Nacional de Literatura Gilberto Owen in 2003, the Premio Jaén de Novela Inédita 2011 for Canción de tumba (an elegy for his mother, translated and published in 2018 by Graywolf Press as Tomb Song) and the Premio de Novela Elena Poniatowska in 2012. He studied Spanish Literature at the Universidad Autónoma de Coahuila. His first novel, Un mundo infiel, was released in 2004 after trying his luck with four collections of poetry.

El mexicano Julián Herbert (1971) es escritor, músico y profesor distinguido con varios premios a lo largo de su carrera como novelista como el Premio Nacional de Literatura Gilberto Owen en 2003, el Premio Jaén de Novela Inédita 2011 por Canción de tumba (una elegía a su madre) o el Premio de Novela Elena Poniatowska en 2012. Estudió literatura española en la Universidad Autónoma de Coahuila. Su primera novela llegaría en 2004, Un mundo infiel, tras probar suerte con cuatro poemarios.

Fernanda Melchor
Fernanda Melchor (b. 1982, Veracruz, Mexico) is the author of the novels Falsa liebre (Almadía, 2013) and Temporada de huracanes (Random House Literature, 2017), and the book of essays Aquí no es Miami (Literature Random House, 2018). She is also a journalist who graduated from the Universidad Veracruzana, holds a Masters in Aesthetics and Art from the Autonomous University of Puebla, and has a specialization in political science from the Institut D'Études Politiques in Rennes, France. Her most recent novel, Temporada de huracanes, was considered by various media as the best Mexican novel of 2017 and is being translated into more than seven languages. The English translation of Temporada de Huracanes, Hurricane Season, is forthcoming in 2019 from New Directions, translated by Sophie Hughes.

Fernanda Melchor (Veracruz, 1982) Es autora de las novelas Falsa liebre (Almadía, 2013) y Temporada de huracanes (Literatura Random House, 2017), y del libro de crónicas Aquí no es Miami (Literatura Random House, 2018). Es periodista egresada de la Universidad Veracruzana, y maestra en Estética y Arte por la Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, y cuenta una especialidad en Ciencias Políticas por el Institut D’Études Politiques de Rennes, Francia. Su más reciente novela, Temporada de huracanes, fue considerada por diversos medios como la mejor novela mexicana del 2017 y está siendo traducida a más de siete idiomas.