The End of the World As We Know It
Roxana Silbert, the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Argentine born Associate-Director, talks to Elizabeth Mistry about the RSC's joint venture with Mexico's Teatro Nacional which opens in Stratford before transferring to…
Clash of the Literary Titans? (and THAT black eye)
Candela explores the beef between Gabriel García Márquez and Mario Vargas Llosa that has long been the intrigue of the literary world. Now that the Peruvian has won the Nobel Prize for Literature, is it time for Latin America…
The Unusual Spaniard
As daughter of Hollywood legend Charlie Chaplin, Geraldine Chaplin was destined for fame or failure in her own film career. Instead, she became an unlikely icon of Spanish cinema through some unusual choices of her own.…
Macedonio Fernandez - The Non-Believer's Belief
This week it is sixty years since the death of Macedonio Fernández, the Argentine writer and philosopher, who Jorge Luis Borges admitted he imitated ‘to the point of devoted and impassioned plagiarism.’ Yet virtually nothing is…
Presumed Guilty: Victim of Mexico's legal system gets rare break to tell story
Over the net the controversial film about a street vendor stitched up by the Mexican legal system is spreading like wildfire and in England it is about to go on general release. Back in Mexico, judges are seeking to ban…
Travelling the Veins of Caracas
Tanya Yusti interviews Chris Anderson, the acclaimed photo-journalist whose latest book of photographs Capitolio, takes us on a disturbing and exuberant journey through Caracas.
WRITING BEYOND MACONDO
Do modern Colombian authors still lurk in the shadow of Gabriel García Márquez? Candela explores Colombian literature in light of the 2010 celebrations of all things Latin American: a new list published by Granta magazine of the…
The Photos of Debbie Bragg and the Rise of a New UK Club Culture
By chronicling the new generation of Latino-Brits in their party element, this oustanding photographer became THE documentarist of the urban latin movement in the UK and helped put urban latin culture on the map. Exclusively on…
In Oaxaca The Walls Speak
In a country whose history simmers with political resistance and art, graffiti has come to reflect a post-modern merging of the two. Far away from the Banksy hype, we celebrate the art of Mexican political graffiti and the…
The Taste of Colombia
London's most celebrated Latin American chef and owner of one of London's finest Latin American restaurants describes his passion for the cuisine of his homeland, Colombia. Can we sense a touch of nostalgia, Esnayder?
Venezuelan Cinema in Search of 'Our Language'
Can Venezuela’s new state-sponsored cinema live up to its Cuban and Russian precedents or will it drown in the accusations of mediocrity and dogma that surrounds it?
I am a feminist, non-feminist writer…(or whatever it takes to stop them talking).
Can you be a socially conscious, female writer in Spain, or anywhere, and not be labelled a feminist? Few hispanic authors have had to battle the gender trap and its scrutiny more than Rosa Montero, one of Spain’s most popular…
A Deeper Love
In Part two of her response to the article 'Did Salsa dancers KIll Salsa Music', Kerry Ribchester argues that Britain's love affair with Salsa (Cuban salsa at least) has not died but evolved. Like with any true…
Freedom Control
Whilst the dazzling visual impact of muscular control and freedom can be startling and seductive, Tam Davidson peels away the mysticism of Capoeira to reveal its’ development through one people’s struggle against slavery.
It Takes Two Worlds to Tango
Representatives of 25 countries converge on the River Plate for the Third World Tango Summit.
Only Room for One Latin Diva?
Ever since Yanet Fuentes, the only Latin American ever to grace the UK’s prime-time talent shows, left the BBC’s 'So You Think You Can Dance', the blogosphere has been awash with outrage at judge Sisco Gomez's…
Acosting Fame
Carlos Acosta, arguably the best ballet dancer of his generation and London’s most famous Latino, looks back on his thirteen years in London, during which he went from the Royal Ballet's principle dancer to global ballet…
Las Cosas por su Nombre
Confused when someone tells you to "Stand my balls up", "arm a patch and throw out the wagon" or "take out my stone by making a show"? You'll need Candela’s guide to authentic Colombian Spanish…
Spain's Sweet Revenge
Four hundred years after Henry VIII divorced and disgraced Spain's beloved Katherine of Aragon, Spain has the chance to seek sweet revenge on the old rascal by bringing its interpretation of Shakespeare's Henry VIII to…
Che, Enrique IV, qué hacé!
Shakespeare in Argentine? Really? Just the thought of the mischievous Argentine psyche giving a twist to theatre’s most famous human commentator, is enough to make one smile. We talk to theatre director Rubén Szuchmacher, who…
Roberto Bolaño: Literary Hot Property or Hot Air?
Roberto Bolaño is being hailed as the best author to come out of Latin America in the past 40 years. Why, after years of success in Spanish, has the Chilean author only now come onto the English-language radar and does he live up…
Spanish in Spain ¿pan comido? Think again
Just when you think you’ve mastered the textbook basics, reality rudely interrupts with slang to turn those so useful words on their head. Throw away those textbooks! Here is your alternative guide to what you thought were the…
Interview with Patricio Guzmán
Award-winning filmmaker Patricio Guzmán, one of Latin America’s most important directors of the 20th and 21st centuries, talks to Latino Life about his new film, Nostalgia for the Light, and about his approach to and opinions of…
Acting Almodóvar
Maria Delgado looks at the acting styles of one of the Spanish-speaking world’s most iconic directors and the importance of acting in Pedro Almodóvar’s work.
In the shadow of Lorca
The poems of Federico Garcia Lorca have touched and inspired people and poets worldwide. Yet his passion, defiance to oppression and his unique vision of Andalucía as a tolerant fusion of cultures makes him particularly special…
The Understatement of Talent
In a world of media hype, it is rare to be shocked and awed by talent. Perhaps that's why one has to travel to Cuba, hwich is where Sara Livero found Salvador Galindo Ruiz working silently in his workshop as she walked along…
Tyrant Banderas by Ramon del Valle-Inician
A new English translation by Peter Bush. New York Review of Books Classics series 2012.
Loathe the term Latino? Blame it on the French
The word ‘Latino’ may conjure up style and swagger (Latino Life, of course, equalling all things cool). But having been created as a tool in Europe’s colonial tussle for territory, is the word really cool or has Latin America…
Interview with Patricio Guzmán
Award-winning filmmaker Patricio Guzmán, one of Latin America’s most important directors of the 20th and 21st centuries, talks to Latino Life about his new film, Nostalgia for the Light, and about his approach to and opinions of…
.... Weird Stuff at Spanish Fiestas
Spain - the land of guilt free siestas and fiestas. From burying a sardine to pretending to be dead in a coffin, Spanish fiestas consist of a lot more than the excessive consumption, dancing and extravagance they are famous for.…
Fernando Montaño - Royal Ballet Dancer
Air Europa LUKAS Finalist for Personality of the Year