Keynote Address: The Historical Novel in the Time of Systemic Violence

The talk will focus on the emergence of the historical, not only as a political revision of the past, but mainly as a way to understand the presence of violence, state corruption, and narco violence in Mexico. Palou will use examples of several novels to offer some strategies for exit “from the labyrinth.”

Pedro Ángel Palou

Pedro Angel Palou (Puebla, 1966) has been a cultural promoter, journalist, soccer referee, chef, TV host, actor, scholar and administrator of higher education. He was Secretary of Culture in Puebla and Rector of the University of the Americas. He is the author of over forty books, including Amores (Jorge Ibargüengoitia Prize), With Death in his Fists (xavier villaurrutia award), In the Bedroom of a World, Paradise Clausurado, Badly Wounded, The House of Magnolia, and historical novels dedicated to Zapata, Morelos, and Cuauhtemoc. In 2009 he was a finalist for the Planeta Casa de America with his novel, The Devil Money that was published in 22 Spanish-speaking countries and translated into Portuguese, Italian and French. He has been a visiting professor at the Sorbonne, Paris; at the Iberoamericana University, and Dartmouth College.

Palou has received several honorary doctorates in Latin America. His most recent novel, Do Not Let Me Die Like This is posthumous memories of Pancho Villa and has been met with great success with audiences and critics.

Palou currently teaches at Tufts University and at Middlebury College during the summers.

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