Art is inseparable from life in these luminous novels that explore the myriad ways art can shape and drive our fates. Christine Estima’s Letters to Kafka explores the torrid love affair between translator and resistance fighter Milena Jesenská and Franz Kafka, carried out in passionate letter correspondence. Following her mother’s sudden death, Isabel must adapt to a new life in the home of her father—Miguel de Cervantes, the celebrated author of Don Quixote—in Martha Bátiz’s A Daughter’s Place. And in Mona’s Eyes by Thomas Schlesser, Mona’s grandfather introduces her (and readers) to fifty-two great works of art—one per week, before she loses her eyesight forever. These novels explore what it means to be human through acts of artistic expression, and this conversation will be no different. Moderated by Paloma Pacheco.
Presented in partnership with Vancouver Latin American Cultural Centre Society. Thomas Schlesser’s appearance presented with the generous support of Consulate General of France in Vancouver.
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MARTHA BÁTIZ is an award-winning writer, translator, and professor. She is the author of five books, including the story collections No Stars in the Sky and Plaza Requiem (winner of an International Latino Book Award), as well as the novella Boca de lobo / Damiana's Reprieve (winner of the Casa de Teatro Prize). A Daughter’s Place is her first novel.
CHRISTINE ESTIMA is an Arab woman of mixed ethnicity (Lebanese, Syrian, and Portuguese) and the author of the short story collection The Syrian Ladies Benevolent Society. She has written for the New York Times, The Walrus, VICE, the Globe and Mail, Chatelaine, Maisonneuve, the Toronto Star, and the CBC. Christine has a master’s degree from York University and lives in Toronto.
PALOMA PACHECO is a journalist and editor based in Vancouver. Her writing and reporting on art, culture, social issues and humans’ relationship to the natural world has appeared in The Globe and Mail, Canadian Geographic, Maisonneuve, POV Magazine, The Tyee and other outlets. She’s received awards and recognition from the National Magazine Awards, the Jack Webster Foundation and the Max Wyman Award for Critical Writing. She is currently an assistant editor at The Narwhal.
THOMAS SCHLESSER is the director of the Hartung-Bergman Foundation in the Antibes, France, and the author of several books about art and its relationship to politics in the 20th century. He is the grandson of André Schlesser, known as Dadé, a well-known singer who founded of the Cabaret L’Écluse. Mona’s Eyes is Schlesser’s American debut. It has been translated into thirty-seven languages.
