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Annual International Storytellers Conference
Annual International Storytellers Conference
The International Meeting of Storytellers reaches its eighteenth edition, 18 years of short stories that have left a deep mark. It is time to celebrate in this space that has given voice to 145 storytellers who have stood out in the vast and vibrant panorama of contemporary short fiction. At the end of this issue the kind reader will find the list of the storytellers who have participated as an invitation to visit their work.
This meeting has established itself as a space for cultural exchange where writers from various literary traditions discuss the art of storytelling, the trends of contemporary storytelling and the challenges faced by the genre, promoting mutual enrichment.
For this edition we will have Carlos Aletto, from Argentina; Mexico will be represented by three powerful female voices: Elma Correa, Atenea Cruz and Brenda Lozano; Eloy Tizón and Ismael Ramos represent Spain; Luis Miguel Rivas, from Colombia, returns to the FIL while Uruguayan writers Rocío Ravera and Tamara Silva complement this great group of storytellers who will be moderated by Alberto Chimal who, in addition, coordinates this meeting.
Together, these storytellers not only stand out for their individual talent, but also for their ability to expand the boundaries of short narrative in Spanish, showing a rich plurality of themes, styles and sensibilities. All of them invite us to explore narrative universes full of emotion and reflection, with stories that exist between the intimate and the universal, and in a very generous way they share their keys to writing a short story.
Story by story, let's celebrate these 18 years of imagination!
Laura Niembro
Content Director
Participants: Elma Correa, Brenda Lozano, Eloy Tizón
Moderator: Alberto Chimal
Elma Correa
She's a storyteller. She coordinates an international writers' meeting in Baja California and manages @habitaciones_propias, a virtual community where the women of the world share the spaces where they create. She has a degree in Spanish language and literature , a master in sociocultural studies and doctor in society, space and power. She teaches at the Faculties of Arts, Pedagogy and Human Sciences of the Autonomous University of Baja California (UABC) and teaches creative writing workshops. She has been a fellow of the Stimulus Program for Artistic Creation and Development of Baja California (PECDABC) and the National Fund for Culture and the Arts (FONCA). Her texts have been published in national and international journals, and have been included in various anthologies. She compiled Vacunas contra la poesía (SCBC, 2020), the Mexican section of Frontera Norte. Antología de narrativa chilena y mexican (Cinosargo, 2020), Ni una sola palabra (UANL, 2021) y Mexicanas 2 (Fondo Blanco, 2022). She wrote Que parezca un accidente (Nitro/Press, 2018), Mentiras que no te conté (UDG, 2021) with which she received the XX Juan José Arreola National Short Story Award; Llorar de fiesta (BUAP, 2022), Lo simple (INBAL, 2023) San Luis Potosí Amparo Dávila Fine Arts Short Story Award 2022, and La novia del león (Nitro/Press, 2024).
Other activities involving the participant:
The Pleasure of Reading Gala
Literature with eggs and machaca
Literature between dogs and cats
Brenda Lozano
Brenda Lozano (Ciudad de México, 1981) es narradora, ensayista y editora. Estudió en México y en Estados Unidos. Ha tenido residencias de escritura en Estados Unidos, Europa, América del Sur y Japón. Ha sido antologada en diversas publicaciones, ha impartido cursos universitarios y talleres, y se ha involucrado en proyectos de cine y arte contemporáneo. Edita en la revista literaria Make de Chicago, y es parte de la editorial Ugly Duckling Presse, de Nueva York. Su primera novela fue Todo nada (2009), le siguen Cuaderno ideal (Alfaguara, 2014), y el libro de cuentos Cómo piensan las piedras (Alfaguara, 2017). Fue reconocida por el Conaculta, Hay Festival y el Consejo Británico como una de las escritoras menores de cuarenta años más importantes de su país, y forma parte de Bogotá39, una selección de los nuevos autores más destacados de Latinoamérica. En 2019, Cuaderno ideal (Loop), traducido por Annie McDermott, recibió el Premio de Traducción English PEN. Escribe quincenalmente una columna en el periódico El País y vive en la Ciudad de México.
Eloy Tizón
Invitado de Honor(Madrid, 1964) Author of four storybooks: Plegaria para pirómanos (2023), Técnicas de iluminación (2013), Parpadeos (2006) and Velocidad de los jardines (1992 y 2017); of three novels: La voz cantante (2004), Labia (2001) and Seda salvaje (1995), and the literary essay Herido leve. Treinta años de memoria lectora (2019).
He has been included among the best European storytellers in the anthology Best European Fiction 2013, with a prologue by John Banville. His works are part of numerous anthologies and have been translated into various languages: English, French, Italian, German, Slovenian, Finnish and Arabic.
A frequent contributor to the media from a young age, he wrote the “Vértigos” column in El Cultural for four years.
He has taught workshops on short fiction stories at the Universidad de Almería (UAL) and at different teaching centers such as Fuentetaja, La Casa Encendida, Hotel Kafka and the Círculo de Bellas Artes.
He directed, in 2022 and 2023, the two editions of the Spanish literary storybook festival, held in the Toledo town of Torrijos and named TorrijosCuenta.
Other activities involving the participant:
"Short forms"
Alberto Chimal
(Toluca, Mexico, 1970) is a writer and creative writing professor. Among other recognitions, in 2002 he received the Premio Nacional de Cuento and in 2014 the Premio de Narrativa Colima, both granted by Mexico’s National Institute of Fine Arts, for his short story collections Éstos son los días (2004) and Manda fuego (2013), respectively. In 2013, his novel La torre y el jardín was a finalist for the Premio Internacional de Novela Rómulo Gallegos. In 2016, his book La madre y la muerte / La partida, co-authored with Alberto Laiseca and Nicolás Arispe, was selected for the White Ravens catalog of the Frankfurt Book Fair. In 2019, his children’s book La Distante won the Premio internacional de la Fundación Cuatrogatos, and in 2021, his young adult novel La noche en la zona M won the Premio Internacional del Banco del Libro.
In addition, he has published two other novels, two creative writing manuals, two essay collections, and around twenty short story collections. As a screenwriter, he wrote the feature films 7:19 (2016), directed by Jorge Michel Grau, and Confesiones (2023), directed by Carlos Carrera. He has also written comics, including a collaboration for the graphic novel Batman:El Mundo (2021), published by DC Comics. For many years, he has been a promoter of writing through digital media and a prominent figure in fantasy literature in Mexico and Latin America.
His texts have been translated into a dozen languages and have appeared in international anthologies. He lives in Mexico City with his wife, fellow writer Raquel Castro.
Other activities involving the participant:
Do you dream of electric sheep?
Annual International Storytellers Conference
Annual International Storytellers Conference
FIL Guadalajara, with the support of Ministerio de Cultura de España and Acción Cultural Española (AC/E) and Penguin Random House
Thursday, December 05
19:30 to 20:50