How do you tell the story of the American West without resorting to mythmaking and simplistic manichaeism? How do you reclaim lost histories of the 1800s—when it was a battleground of fledgling republics and Apachería—and what does it signify to those crossing the border today?
Álvaro Enrigue’s Now I Surrender (tr. Natasha Wimmer) and Carmen Boullosa’s Texas: The Great Theft (tr. Samantha Schnee) offer riveting fictional accounts of this contested territory, while Reyna Grande’s new book of essays, Migrant Heart, is grounded in contemporary testimony.
Don’t miss this timely discussion moderated by PEN America Board member and author of LatinoLand, Marie Arana.
