INTERROGATING THE FUTURE (BODY) THROUGH THE PRESENT (PLAGUE)

One of the leading voices in experimental Spanish-language fiction” (The New York Times), celebrated Mexican novelist Mario Bellatin discusses writing as an extension of both the body physical and the body politic with David Shook, translator of the brand-new English translation of Beauty Salon, the allegory of plague that brought Bellatin his cult status for his singular literary vision. Written in 1994, this work of “unstoppable momentum…” that many have interpreted in relationship to the HIV/AIDS epidemic “lays bare the capacity of illness to ravage the body and strip the individual of identity” (BookForum) and speaks with disquieting immediacy as the globe reels from COVID-19. This conversation will be moderated by interviewer, curator, and Founding Executive Director of Onassis Los Angeles Paul Holdengräber.