FIL Program 2024 Program Search
FIL for Young People
One Thousand Young People with Jorge Volpi
One Thousand Young People with Jorge Volpi
What advice would Jorge Volpi give to young people who hesitate whether or not to enter the universe of writing? “I would tell them to do it, to dare, yes, with a lot of tenacity and discipline,” said the Mexican writer in an interview granted in 2022 to Campus America of the University of La Laguna, in Spain.
Just that year, his name was resonating on the Internet because a documentary based on his book had just been released on Netflix Una novela criminal [A Criminal Novel](2018), which won him the XXI Alfaguara Prize, in which he masterfully narrates the Cassez-Vallarta case that shocked Mexican society back in 2005.
This was the most read novel in Mexico in 2018 and it is part of a vast work translated into more than 30 languages, which also includes novels and short stories as well as essays, which have made Volpi as one of the most important authors of contemporary literature, undoubtedly a long way since he began writing at the age of 16.
In addition to A crime novel, some of his other notable works include In Spite of the Dark Silence (1993); the twentieth-century trilogy made up of In Search of Klingsor (1999), The End of Madness (2003) and Season of Ash (2006); La tejedora de sombras (2011, Planeta-América Award); Oscuro bosque oscuro (2010); Memorial del engaño (2013); Las elegidas (2014); and War Dispatch (2022).
Precisely because of the whole of his work, Volpi received in 2008 the José Donoso Prize and in 2016 the Medal of the Order of Isabel the Catholic of Spain, in addition to being a Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters of France, among many other recognitions.
Participant: Jorge Volpi
Presenter: Rosa Beltrán
Jorge Volpi
(Mexico, 1968) is the author of 15 novels, including In spite of the dark silence (1993); the 20th-century trilogy consisting of In search of Klingsor (1999, Biblioteca Breve Award), El fin de la locura (2003) and Season of ash (2006); La tejedora de sombras (2011, Planeta-America Award); Oscuro bosque oscuro (2010); Memorial del engaño (2013); Las elegidas (2014); Una novela criminal (2018, Alfaguara Prize), which led to the Netflix documentary series of the same name, and Partes de guerra (2022).
He has also written the essays La imaginación y el poder (1998), La guerra y las palabras (2004), Mentiras contagiosas (2008, Mazatlán Award), El insomnio de Bolívar (2009, Debate-Casa de América Award), Leer la mente (2011) and Examen de mi padre (2016), and the play Las agujas dementes (2020). His most recent book is the book of stories Enrabiados (2023).
In October, Alfaguara will publish the essay La invención de todas las cosas, a history of fiction.
In 2008, he received the José Donoso Award for all his work, and the Medal of the Orden de Isabel la Católica de España. He is a Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters of France. His books have been translated into 30 languages.
Other activities involving the participant:
The mystery of the imagination that creates (and destroys) worlds
Rosa Beltrán
Es novelista, cuentista, ensayista, editora, fundadora de varias colecciones literarias. Ha escrito las novelas La corte de los ilusos (Premio Planeta 1995), El paraíso que fuimos (2002), Alta infidelidad (2006), Efectos secundarios (2012), El cuerpo expuesto (2013) y Radicales libres (2021). Es autora de los volúmenes de cuentos Amores que matan (1996 y 2019) y de Verdades virtuales, ensayos (2019). En colaboración con otros autores ha escrito El edén oscuro (crónicas sobre Acapulco), El nacimiento del monstruo y El Cuerpo femenino y sus narrativas.
Es autora del podcast Convers@s. Ha sido traducida al inglés, francés, italiano, holandés y esloveno y sus cuentos aparecen en numerosas antologías de distintos países. Ha recibido el reconocimiento de la American Association of University Women (AAUW), el Premio Universidad Nacional para Jóvenes Académicos en el área de creación, el Reconocimiento Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz por la UNAM, el Premio Excelencia en las Letras José Emilio Pacheco 2022 y el Distinguished Scholar por UCLA donde cursó el doctorado en Literatura Comparada.
FIL Guadalajara, con el apoyo del Ministerio de Cultura de España y Acción Cultural Española (AC/E)