Anticipated Insights from ILB 2025 as Discussed by Cristina Rivera Garza
Cristina Rivera Garza, renowned Mexican author, has taken up the role of curator in residence for the Internationales Literaturfestival Berlin (ILB) this month. The festival, which runs from September 10th to 19th, will feature a lineup with a focus on Spanish-language writing, highlighting the importance of translation in understanding diversity and the interconnectedness of different cultures.
Rivera Garza's selection aims to provide plural views generated in the Spanish-speaking world. She has invited Spanish-language writers who work on issues of migration and gender violence, believing that writers are thinking about inescapable conditions of our time that we need to address collectively for a possible future.
One of the authors featured is Gabriela Wiener, an Afro-Colombian writer, who will be present at the festival with a recent German translation of her work. Javier Zamora, the Salvadoran-American writer, will be in Berlin for the first time and will share his experiences at the festival.
Rivera Garza's events will also showcase writers from the diverse and dynamic Latin American community in Berlin. These writers, including Velia Vidal, Eliana Hernández-Pachón, Luisa Reyes Retana, and Esther Andradi, not only create work in formally innovative ways but also have an important role as activists in their own communities.
The ILB will also feature writers from Latin America who have been living elsewhere in Europe, including Norway and Finland, sharing their experiences and relationships with migration and literature.
Rivera Garza's belief in the political nature of her work is evident in her selections. She states that everything she writes is political because she borrows and uses the language of entire communities. Through her work, she aims to demonstrate that writing is not an isolating activity but a concern for communities and the world.
The festival underscores the importance of introducing up-and-coming writers to audiences. Rivera Garza, in particular, believes that festivals like ILB play a crucial role in this regard.
The full programme and tickets for the Internationales Literaturfestival Berlin can be found on literaturfestival.com. Rivera Garza will discuss her book, "Liliana's Invincible Summer," which was written in both English and Spanish, during her events at the festival.
In her role as curator, Rivera Garza will be responsible for selecting, organizing, and overseeing exhibitions or artistic programs within the festival, guiding the presentation and interpretation of the artworks or projects on display. She will shape the cultural and conceptual framework of the festival and manage the dialogue between the art, the space, and the visitors.
Through her curation, Rivera Garza hopes to create a different vision and way of life in the current world, not just in the future, by encouraging imagination and open dialogue. The Internationales Literaturfestival Berlin promises to be an enlightening event, showcasing the diversity and richness of Spanish-language literature and the power of storytelling to bridge cultural divides.
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