Home, Homecoming, and What Lies Between: Three Rising Authors to Read this Hispanic Heritage Month
National Hispanic Heritage Month runs from September 15th-October 15th, a reminder of what a joy it can be to explore the amazing cultures and literatures of the Spanish-speaking world, even for those of us who don’t read or speak Spanish. Whether or not you already love Esperanza Rising and Gabriel García Márquez, taking some time this month to explore Hispanic literary culture will undoubtedly leave you richer. The abundance of possible books to read can seem overwhelming, particularly if you want to support rising authors as well as the big names (though by all means, read One Hundred Years of Solitude if you haven’t already). As you curate your reading material for the upcoming month, consider adding these three authors to your list. They celebrate and grapple with Hispanic and Latinx identities in their work in a variety of genres, and they do a fabulous job of it.
Loedel’s debut novel Hades, Argentina came out in 2020. Inspired by his own family’s story, the novel centers on the character of Tomás Orilla and his return to Buenos Aires to face a past full of ghosts and the problem of who he has become while away. Critics love Loedel’s straightforward prose and sophisticated engagement with the orders of complicity and victimhood. The novel won the Prix du Premier Roman, was a finalist for the Prix Femina and the VCU Cabell First Novel Award, and was long-listed for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. Loedel is based in Brooklyn. You can read his discussion of origin, homeland, and cultural hybridity in this Literary Hub article.
Dr. Castillo Planas is a Fordham grad (GSAS ‘11) and a New York-based poet and professor at Lehman College. Her bi-lingual poetry collection Coatlicue Eats the Apple, which she began during her MA program at Fordham, plays with both English and Spanish to create a poetic language very much her own as she teases out stories of ancestry and homecoming. Consider also reading her academic book, A Mexican State of Mind: New York City and the New Borderlands of Culture. In it, she writes about both the systemic pressures on Mexican communities in New York City and the creativity that characterizes the city’s migrant populations. To hear her thoughts on grad school, creative production, and the academic job market, check out this interview from Fordham English News.
Lina María Ferreira Cabeza-Vanegas
Lina M. Ferreira Cabeza-Vanegas is an assistant professor in UChicago’s Creative Writing program, born and raised in Colombia. Drown/Sever/Sing (2015), her debut collection of essays and short stories, works to “re-appropriate” the monsters of Colombian legend and folklore. More recently, Lina has published Don’t Come Back, a collection of essays, translations, and re-interpreted myths that explores home and identity and questions both the possibility and the value of homecoming. She has also published other works in Exchanges, The Yale Review, Brooklyn Rail, and more. Read or listen to an interview with her here.
Happy reading!
