Central America and the Caribbean at the House of Literature
In Jamaican Marlon James‘s Booker Prize winning novel A Brief History of Seven Killings, the attempted assassination of Bob Marley forms the backdrop of an exploration of the contemporary, contrast-filled Jamaica. This fall, the book will be published in Norwegian translation. Eduardo Halfon (Guatemala) is a central voice in the new wave of literature from Central America and the Caribbean. You can meet him in conversation about his own books, and on Sunday, he will give a lecture about one of the giants in Latin American literature: Julio Cortázar.
Rita Indiana (The Dominican Republic) writes dystopian fiction about a future Caribbean characterized by political upheaval and climate change. While scheduled to visit the House of Literature during these Caribbean days, Indiana was forced to cancel. Instead, there will be a close reading of her novels.
Central America and the Caribbean are seeing a cultural and literary boom. During these days, the House of Literature will focus on the region often referred to as “America’s backyard” trough literary conversations, lectures about the Danish-Norwegian colonial history of the West Indies and a Caribbean program for children. And Friday night, there will be a Caribbean edition of our quarterly open mic, open to contributions in all languages.