Every year, Litro publishes international editions focusing on different parts of the globe...

For this World Series edition, we turn our pages to Mexico. This Mexican issue of Litro speaks to the many voices writing on Mexico in different languages and forms. Guest-edited by Jennifer Clement, former President of PEN Mexico during the time when the killing of journalists began to escalate, this issue contains an unpublished poem – unknown even in Spanish – by Samuel Noyola, one of the lost and disappeared voices of Mexico. There is such a wealth of talent among the emerging writers in Mexico, and this issue represents them too.

  • Chloe Aridjis

    Chloe Aridjis

    Chloe Aridjis grew up in the Netherlands and Mexico City. Her debut novel Book of Clouds was awarded the French Prix du Premier Roman Etranger. She is a 2014 recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship.

  • Natalia Toledo

    Natalia Toledo

    Natalia Toledo was born in Juchitán, Oaxaca, and has published several books of poetry. She writes in both Zapotec and Spanish. She is a member of Mexico’s presitigious Sistema Nacional de Creadores de Arte.

  • Daniel Krauze

    Daniel Krauze

    Daniel Krauze is the author of the story collections Ravens (Planeta, 2007) and Fever (Planeta, 2010). Fallas de Origen, his first novel, won the first New Lyrics award by Editorial Planeta. He is currently co-editor of the magazine Letras Libres

  • Samuel Noyola

    Samuel Noyola

    Samuel Noyola was born in Monterrey, Mexico in 1965. His books include: Nadar sabe mi llama, Tequila con calavera, Gramática del fuego and El cuchillo y la luna. He has been missing since 2007.

  • Sara Urib

    Sara Urib

    Sara Uribe lives in northern Mexico. Her most recent book, Antigone Gonzalez (2nd. Edition, South +, 2013), explores strategies documentary writing, conceptual and poetic writing on issues around violence, and body language.

  • Álvaro Enrigue

    Álvaro Enrigue

    Álvaro Enrigue is the award winning author of four novels and two books of short stories. He was awarded the prestigious Joaquín Mortiz Prize for his first novel, La muerte de un instalador (Death of an Installation Artist). His novel Muerte súbita (Sudden Death) won the Herralde Novel Prize in 2013.

  • Luis Miguel Aguilar

    Luis Miguel Aguilar

    Luis Miguel Aguilar is a poet and essayist. His most recent book, Las cuentas de la Iliada y otras cuentas, was published in 2009.

  • Ximena Escalante

    Ximena Escalante

    Ximena Escalante`s recent works recreate the myths of Phaedra, Electra, Andromache, Salome, Judith, Lilith.

  • Aline Davidoff

    Aline Davidoff

    Aline Davidoff studied literature at the New York School in New York. Her career passes between the performing arts and writing. She is currently president of PEN Mexico.

  • Kathleen Snodgrass

    Kathleen Snodgrass

    Kathleen Snodgrass is the author of The Fiction of Hortense Calisher (University of Delaware Press, 1993). Her translations of contemporary Mexican poets have appeared in such journals as Poetry London and World Literature Today. She lives in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.

  • Miguel Calderón

    Miguel Calderón

    Miguel Calderón is a Mexican artist and writer. He is best known for his work titled "Aggressively Mediocre/Mentally Challenged/Fantasy Island (circle one)" which was part of a 1998 exhibit and was bought by Wes Anderson and shown in the film The Royal Tenenbaums. He received his BFA at the San Francisco Art Institute in 1994. He has worked in paint, photography, video and installation.

  • Jennifer Clement

    Jennifer Clement

    Jennifer Clement is an American-Mexican author. In 2015, she was elected as the first woman president of PEN International, an organization that was founded in 1921. She also served as President of PEN Mexico from 2009 to 2012. Clement's books have been translated into 30 languages.