The Hispanic origin, together with the Anglo-Saxon, Amerindian and African roots, is a founding part of the American society and its identity. Since the 16th century, Hispanics have settled across the North American land, from California to Florida, establishing the basis of what would become the world’s most powerful country. In this conversation we will debate and reflect on the meaning of speaking Spanish today, about the power of language and its connotations. Do some people believe language to be a threat for social stability? What are the current opportunities for the Spanish language and how can we make the most of them?
In Spanish with simultaneous translation in English
Free admission. Kindly RSVP:
scerda@consulmexny.mx
About Álvaro Enrigue
The Mexican writer Álvaro Enrigue has spent the past five years living in New York, teaching at Columbia University and Princeton and contributing to literary journals like n+1 and The Believer. He has written six acclaimed books in Spanish, but “Sudden Death” — which earned major literary prizes in Mexico and Spain and comes out Feb. 9 via Riverhead — is his first novel to appear in English. The book is translated by Natasha Wimmer, who has become something of a tastemaker in contemporary Latin American literature following her translations of Roberto Bolaño’s “The Savage Detectives” and “2666.” Mr. Enrigue routinely makes historical peculiarities the subject of his fiction, and “Sudden Death” — a postmodern romp through Baroque Europe that begins with a tennis match between Caravaggio and the Spanish poet Francisco de Quevedo — is no exception.
About Juna Villoro
Novelist, short-story writer, essayist, and chronicler whose work addresses an impressive array of topics with insight, dark humor, and irony: canonical Mexican literature; the Zapatista insurrection in Chiapas; the legacy of Mexico’s Cristero War; the intersections of popular television and fiction genres; and the social and cultural functions of spectator sports like boxing and soccer. A remarkably versatile writer, both in terms of subject matter and genre, Villoro also stands out for his insistently reflective style. His discussion of an issue is also an appraisal, often subtly executed, ofhow that issue should be or traditionally has been treated.
