“Peering into the labyrinth of Mexico’s justice system in the 1970s, Vicious Circle could have been written yesterday. Mexican playwright José Agustín skillfully integrates enduring themes relevant in contemporary Mexico—drugs, crime, and corruption—to weave together an unenviable prisoner’s dilemma for four young hippies who find themselves between the rock and hard place that was Mexico’s unforgiving Lecumberri prison, where Agustín found his inspiration. Exceptionally transl...

Dividuals explores the other side, or hidden side of modern subjectivity, as seen in (mostly four) early modern Spanish classics. Veering away from the hypertrophied notions of individuality and identity, which constitute the bases of our own post-humanism and even anti-humanism, this essay looks into how, as humans, and as humanists, we have a long history of showing dividuality, a never-ending split in our beings. The split manifests itself in the humanist’s split between historicist, soc...

'Emilia Olivera, a real and humble woman, a native of the Central American country of Belize, becomes, thanks to Víctor

Manuel Durán’s literary talent, the true embodiment of the Belizean woman, a proud unbreakable spirit, a demanding

mother and a loyal companion, who was able, with grace and determination, to face both joyful events and harsh tragedies

during her long life in Progreso, a village in the Corozal District in the country of Belize.

Emilia, mother of Víctor Manuel Durán an...

Amy Williamsen (1959-2019) was a beloved teacher, scholar, colleague and mentor to those fortunate enough to have known and worked with her during her magnificent career at Occidental College (1985-1989), the University of Arizona (1989-2011), and the University of North Carolina Greensboro (2011-2019). Her impressive publication record includes the monograph Co(s)mic Chaos: Exploring Los trabajos de Persiles y Sigismunda (Juan de la Cuesta, 1994), five co-edited volumes (The University Press...

Amy Williamsen (1959-2019) was a beloved teacher, scholar, colleague and mentor to those fortunate enough to have known and worked with her during her magnificent career at Occidental College (1985-1989), the University of Arizona (1989-2011), and the University of North Carolina Greensboro (2011-2019). Her impressive publication record includes the monograph Co(s)mic Chaos: Exploring Los trabajos de Persiles y Sigismunda (Juan de la Cuesta, 1994), five co-edited volumes (The University Press...

Aan Zee is about the tragic-comic search of a man for his identity between two cultures. It is a modern Bildungsroman, in the sense that the heroe searches for a purpose and is transformed in the process. Hubert Belovski, a German-born scientist now living in the United States of America, is confronted with his past in the shape of a former girlfriend, as he goes to Scheveningen in the Netherlands, following an invitation to speak at a Conference on Fluid Dynamics. Aan Zee is the name of his ...

'Was it an intuition that made me select -- I think at the beginning of my adolescence – a form of approach to life linked to English literature through Shakespeare? And can one talk in this case of literature? I think not, I think that even though it was made concrete in a regular reading of the Stratford genius in the middle of the night, it had to do with a study of the possibilities of the human soul and the different models offered us. I would identify with male and female characters, ...

Renée Ferrer's first novel, Los nudos del silencio, has been translated into Italian and French, and is now presented in English. This complex narrative of intrigue, memories, and suspense merits the attention of an active and perceptive audience that can piece together the variegated lines of thought shared by the protagonists of the novel. Three very different worlds come together under one roof in the sordid confines of a striptease joint in Paris. Poetic and vulgar voices mingle and dive...

'Ezza Agha Malak’s new novel, What Have You Done With Your Kids, Dad?, touches upon some particularly painful issues as it describes the abusive relationship of an overbearing, Muslim man seen thru the eyes of his own young children. The progressive breakdown of the couple means more than the separation of two adults with children. Not only do these young ones have to face the terrible psychological assault upon their own mother, but they also have to reconcile themselves with the loss of t...

'Olivier Pascalin s’affirme à chaque nouvelle œuvre littéraire comme un maître consommé de l’analyse introspective.  Médecin des corps et des âmes, il sait mieux que quiconque dépeindre des caractères parfois étranges, voire exotiques, mais toujours attachants. Chantre de l’heuristique, respectueux de la nature et de ses pouvoirs, Olivier Pascalin est un chaman moderne, intermédiaire obligé entre les hommes et les dieux. Il voit quand les autres restent aveugles, parle qua...