What role do you see the conference playing in the world of Spanish-language publishing?

In Mexico, the figure of the literary agent is pretty recent and isn’t as widespread as in the U.S. and Europe. I’m talking about three or four certified literary agencies in the country. Right now, there are still a lot of Mexican and Latin American authors who promote themselves to publishers, sometimes successfully and sometimes not so much. The San Miguel Writers’ festival is aware of that, and for several years we’ve offered attendees individual consultations with VF Literary Agency, the premier Mexican agency. Its founder and president, Verónica Flores, also offers workshops to teach young writers how to sell their novels, stories, or poems. One of the festival’s priorities has been to emphasize the role of literary agents as key figures in writers’ professional development, and to give Mexican authors access to advice and to the possibility of finding an agent to accompany them in the complex process that is publishing, distributing, and promoting their work.

What informs your curation of the Spanish-language side of the festival?

My focus is on inclusion, and showcasing diverse genres and emerging voices. It’s fundamental that the festival’s workshops include writers from not only the country’s capital but also other parts of Mexico, like San Miguel de Allende and Guanajuato. Geographical diversity enriches the program with a plurality of perspectives, and lets us highlight literary talent from outside the major cultural centers.

Can you talk a bit about the current literary and publishing landscape in Mexico?

The publishing landscape has evolved a lot in the past few years in Mexico. Today we talk about independent publishers that have crossed oceans and bridged borders, built high-quality catalogs, and put Mexican literature on the international stage. Right now, the literary landscape in Mexico is dominated by women writers like Cristina Rivera Garza, Fernanda Melchor, Brenda Navarro, Ave Barrera, Guadalupe Nettel, and Dahlia de la Cerda. They defy the constraints of genre and structure, cover themes like migration and suicide, otherness and the body. Some are activists, others are deeply committed to intersectional feminism, to the realities of women on the margins, to the promotion of Ibero-American women writers.

This year’s festival featured such big names as Abraham Varghese, R.F. Kuang, and Andrés Neuman. Which authors would you like to see at a future edition?

Mariana Enríquez and Fernanda Melchor are on my wish list because they’re both masters of their genres. Enrique Serna and Diego Enrique Osorno would also be excellent choices. But I also dream of inviting Han Kang, or Anneli Jordahl—why not?

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