Mexico 2010 Reading Challenge

Literanista January 21, 2010

Love this idea:

List includes:

A Sor Juana Anthology Alan Trueblood (Trans.) 17th century poet, nun, feminist.
	The Underdogs Mariano Arzuela Most famous novel of the revolution.
	The Labyrinth of Solitude Octavio Paz (Nobel Prize, Cervantes Prize) Quintissential work on the Mexican national character.
	Where the Air Is Clear Carlos Fuentes (Cervantes Prize) On the character of Mexico City.
	Massacre in Mexico Elena Poniatowska (Xavier Villaurrutia Prize) One of the darkest chapters in Mexico’s recent history.
	El arte de la fuga Sergio Pitol (Cervantes Prize)
	Selected Poems of Pacheco Jose Emilio Pacheco (Cervantes Prize)
	Like Water for Chocolate: A Novel in Monthly Installments with Recipes, Romances, and Home Remedies Laura Esquivel
	Frida: A Biography of Frida Kahlo Hayden Herrera On Mexico’s most famous artist.
	Malinche: A Novel Laura Esquivel Re-imagining the “Eve” of the conquest era.

…plus any winners of the Sor Juana Prize I can find in English.

List includes:

Mexican Village, Josephina Niggli – This is a collection of interrelated short stories set in post-revolutionary Mexico. Niggli incorporates Mexican folklore, legends, traditions, and songs in her stories. It was first published in 1945.

Canícula: Snapshots of a Girlhood en la Frontera, Norma Elia Cantú – This is a fictional biography of growing up on the border in the 1940s, 50s and early 60s.

Tinisima, Elena Poniatowski – This is novel based on the life of photographer and revolutionary, Tina Modotti (one of, if not my favorite photographers). Modotti was actually born in Italy, was a silent film star and the muse of Edward Weston. They both lived in Mexico. She became a photographer in her own right, but in the end she gave it up in favor of politics.