Latin American Iconic and Emerging Writers Symposium: Launch of Review 86

In celebration of Review’s new issue focusing on iconic and emerging writers in Latin America, Americas Society held a three-evening symposium of literary discussions, panels, and bilingual readings of original work by iconic and young writers from throughout the region.

For the third night of the symposium, Americas Society hosted the launch of Review 86. The event featured comments by Daniel Shapiro (editor), and Carmen Boullosa (guest editor). There were also readings by Gioconda Belli (Nicaragua) and Luis Rafael Sánchez (Puerto Rico). Work by all these participants is showcased in Review 86.

Review 86 also features essays on author Mario Vargas Llosa and others, on topics including women’s literature and narco-literature; texts by iconic, established, and emerging writers throughout the hemisphere including Andréa del Fuego (Brazil), Diamela Eltit (Chile), Francisco Font Acevedo (Puerto Rico), Ulises Juárez (Nicaragua), Nélida Piñon (Brazil), Sergio Ramírez (Nicaragua), and Ignacio Uranga (Argentina); arts and music pieces; and reviews of new titles by Jorge Amado, Ernesto Cardenal, Junot Díaz, José Donoso, Clarice Lispector, and others.

Copies of Review 86 were available for sale at the event.

Presented by the Americas Society with the additional collaboration of InterAmericas®; the Mexican Cultural Institute of New York; the Consulate General of Nicaragua in New York; the Center for Puerto Rican Studies/CUNY; Columbia University; Cooper Union—School of Art; Hunter College, CUNY; New York University; McNally Jackson Books; and La Casa Azul Bookstore.

Learn about the first and second evenings of the symposium.

Order a copy. Subscribe to Review.

Event Information: Jose Negroni | jnegroni@as-coa.org | 1-212-277-8353
Membership Information: Valeria Catan | vcatan@as-coa.org | 1-212-277-8342
Press Inquiries: Adriana La Rotta | alarotta@as-coa.org | 1-212-277-8384

Daniel Shapiro is Editor of Review:  Literature and Arts of the Americas and Director of Literature at the Americas Society.

Gioconda Belli (Managua, Nicaragua,1948), a widely translated poet and novelist, as well as a central figure in the Sandinista Revolution, is the author of many books, including La Mujer habitada (1989; The Inhabited Woman, 1994), El pergamino de la seducción (2006; The Scroll of Seduction, 2007), El país bajo mi piel (2001; The Country Under My Skin:  a Memoir of Love and War, 2003), and El infinito en la palma de la mano (2009; Infinity in the Palm of Her Hand, 2010).  Belli, described by Harold Pinter as a “wonderfully free and original talent,” has received numerous awards for her literature.

Carmen Boullosa (Mexico City, 1954), recipient of the Xavier Villaurrutia prize in Mexico and Spain’s Café Gijón Prize, among other international awards, lives in New York. Her most recent novels are Las paredes hablan (2010) and Texas (2013).  Three of her novels are available in English translation—They’re Cows, We’re Pigs (1991), Leaving Tabasco (2002), and Cleopatra Dismounts (2003).  Boullosa co-hosts Nueva York, an Emmy Award-winning television series.  She is the guest creative editor of Review 86 (Iconic and Emerging Writers and Artists, Spring 2013).

Luis Rafael Sánchez (Humacao, Puerto Rico, 1936) is among Puerto Rico’s leading playwrights, whose most celebrated play is La Pasión según Antígona Pérez (1968). He has also written novels, including the classic La Guaracha del Macho Camacho (1976; Macho Camacho’s Beat, 1980; translated by Gregory Rabassa), and most recently, Indiscreciones de un perro gringo (2007), narrated by Buddy, Bill Clinton’s dog during his years in the White House; an excerpt, translated by Alfred Mac Adam, appeared in Review 74 (Spring 2007).

Image: Cover of Review 86. Courtesy of David Zink Yi and Hauser & Wirth. Cover design by José Negroni.