History, Memory, Fiction: A Reading and Conversation

Eduardo Halfon’s stories cut across borders of geography, history, culture, and identity. A Guatemalan-Jewish writer with ties to the United States, Europe, and the Middle East, Halfon writes fiction that weaves together stories of the Holocaust, the Ashkenazi and Sephardic diasporas, and the Guatemalan civil war in provocative and moving ways. In this special event, Halfon will read excerpts from novels such as The Polish Boxer, Mourning, and his latest work Cancíon, and will engage in conversation about his work with Michael Rothberg.

Eduardo Halfon was born in Guatemala in 1971. He is the author of fifteen books of fiction published in Spanish. Named one of the best young Latin American writers by the Hay Festival of Bogotá, he is also the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and the prestigious Roger Caillois Prize in France. His novel Mourning won the Prix du Meilleur Livre Étranger (France), the Premio de las Librerías de Navarra (Spain), the Edward Lewis Wallant Award (US), and the International Latino Book Award (US). In 2018, he was awarded the Guatemalan National Prize in Literature, his country’s highest literary honor.

Wednesday, March 8, 2023 • 314 Royce • 4 PM

History, Memory, Fiction: A Reading and Conversation with Eduardo

Eduardo Halfon (Author)

in conversation with Michael Rothberg (UCLA)

The 1939 Society Program in Holocaust Studies