A READERS GUIDE TO MEXICO
To read a book from or about Mexico is to transport yourself to another time or place. Novels from some of the great writers such as Rosario Castellanos or Elena Garro or beautifully observed memoirs also clash with the harsh…
A Readers Guide to Argentina
Like its music, dance, theatre and art, Latin America is producer of some of the greatest literature that exists on the planet. But in this rich forest of words, it’s not easy to know where to start. Which is why we asked our…
Listening to Nature
“Our father, listen attentively to the voice of our rivers, listen to the fearsome trees of the great forest.” So wrote José María Arguedas in 1966. The poet, writer and anthropologist (1911-1969) is one of the most celebrated…
EL TRAPECISTA (The Trapeze Artist) survives again.
Mario Flecha with his new book EL TRAPECISTA (The Trapeze artist), published in Spanish, enchants the reader with a selection of quixotic short stories.
'The Latin American Cookbook' by Virgilio Martinez
Danica Katich delves into a masterpiece of research, commitment to food and ode to cooking and sharing by one of Peru’s most magnificent chefs
Retracing Galeano’s Open Veins
‘Gold, Oil and Avocados, A Recent History of Latin America in Sixteen Commodities’ by Andy Robinson is an account of export extractivism in Latin America. Robinson argues that to understand the major political upheavals in Latin…
Women in Words: Books for International Women's Day
After the Socialist Party of America organized a Women's Day in New York City on February 28, 1909, German delegates Clara Zetkin, Käte Duncker, Paula Thiede and others proposed at the 1910 International Socialist Woman…
Pioneering Black Latina Artists
Recently we published a list of Black Heroines of Latin American History, Afro-Latinas who put their lives at risk, and in some cases gave their lives, in order to shape our history. This week we bring you the brave women who…
“Happiness is a Myth"
In his book 'You are not Meant to be Happy, so stop Trying' Basque psychiatrist Dr Rafa Euba argues that happiness is merely an ethereal ghost that inhabits our brain, not something to strive for. Released in these…
10 Queer Books from Latin America and Spain
LGBTQI+ History Month has been taking place every February in the UK since 2005 to celebrate the abolition of Section 28 in 2003 (which had previously led to the closure a number of lesbian, gay and bisexual student support…
10 Novels To Gift This Christmas
This list of books takes you from one corner of Latin America to the other with a special trip over the Atlantic to a lost town in the middle of Spain. We chose 9 books written by women authors in this selection where you'll…
Quino, creator of "Mafalda" (1932 - 2020)
This week Argentina mourns a great loss. At the age of 88, Argentine cartoonist, Joaquín Salvador Lavado Tejón (more commonly known as ‘Quino’) passed away on the 30th September in Mendoza, Argentina. Creator and father of…
'Britain and the Dictatorships of Argentina and Chile' by Grace Livingstone
Ask anyone active in the British left during the 1970s and 1980s and they are likely to remember stories about Chile: Hawker Hunter jets bombing the presidential palace, the murderous Pinochet regime (1973-1990), Chilean refugees…
Top 10 Non-Fiction Books about Latin America
These books may be non-fiction, but as the magical realism of last week’s list showed us, the line between fact and fiction in Latin American writing is a very fine one indeed.Whether on politics, history or music, they are all…
LatinoLife's Guide to Bi-lingual Poetry
Rhyming translator-poet, Timothy Adès guides us through the daunting world of poetry, finding moments of bi-lingual inspiration to help us battle through dark times and relish the good...
Top 10 Contemporary Classic Fiction
We bring you masters of contemporary fiction, some are already becoming classics, all of which, once started you cannot put down, whether in Spanish or English.
LatinoLife's Guide to the Latin American Classics
A list we've always wanted to do... the must-reads of Latin America's fantastic array of fiction. Here we begin with the classics, from the 20th century and before, obviously omitting many greats...but you have to start…
"Critics in Chile Did Not Consider Me a Writer"
Isabel Allende is one of the Spanish-speaking world’s most widely read authors. The award-winning Chilean novelist has written over twenty books, which have gone on to sell over 74 million copies worldwide and be translated into…
Above All...
‘Sobretodo’ in Spanish is the word for ‘coat’, but the literal translation means ‘about everything’, a detail not lost on the author, as this delightful selection of poems by Argentine author Sylvia Libedinsky is exactly that:…
Ayahuasca, Colonialist Mysticism and Exploitation of Indigenous People
A Review of 'The Cull of Personality - Ayahuasca, Colonialism, and the Death of a Healer' by Kevin Tucker
'Tu Casa Mi Casa' by Enrique Olvera
Enrique Olvera, the world-renowned chef behind Mexico City’s Pujol and New York’s Cosme, has collaborated with three Mexican chefs for his first home cooking book “Tu Casa Mi Casa”. Marketed as “Mexican recipes for the home cook…
'The Third Bank of the River' by Chris Feliciano Arnold (Picador)
A book which tells the story of the Amazon and its ports-towns near the frontier between Brazil, Colombia and Peru
San Juan Noir
Award-winning Puerto Rican poet and novelist Mayra Santos-Febres has been a pivotal literary figure in her island home for many years, championing the work of upcoming writers through her creative writing classes at the…
Chocolate, Politics and Peace-Building
An Ethnography of the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó, Colombia by Gwen Burnyeat
Re-Nascimento
Celebrating the centenary of Nascimento, the legendary Chilean publishing house
COSMIC CONNECTIONS
Patricia Diaz describes herself as a migrant storyteller, for she has lived longer in London than in her native Colombia. Her debut novel ‘The Golden Bat’ touches on the tragic events of the 1985 Nevado del Ruiz volcano eruption…
Paradise City
Inspired by ten years living as a teacher in Brazil, Paradise City is the debut crime novel from Joe Thomas, which delves deep into the underworld of São Paulo. Here the author writes about the people and places, the violence and…
Looking for Trouble – The Life and Poems of Roque Dalton
As the first bi-lingual edition of a selected works of the Salvadoran poet, Roque Dalton, is published, Roger Atwood reflects on the life and work of one of Central America's greatest literary figures and revolutionaries…
BETTY BOO by CLAUDIA PIÑEIRO / Bitter Lemon Press 2016.
The latest novel from Latin America's literary sensation being dubbed the Argentine Patricia Highsmith
'Reputations' by Juan Gabriel Vasquez, translated by Anne McLean (Bloomsbury)
Depicting the slippery nature of the past and the unreliability of memory, Juan Gabriel Vasquez' fifth novel draws a convincing portrait of the complex world of Bogotá in recent years, adding to his own reputation as one of…
LOVIN’ LATIN LONDON - The Writers
Latin America has its fair share of great authors, but what about the budding authors among London-bred Latino community? London’s Latin American, Spanish and Portuguese communities are well into their second and third…
Cuba Makes An Author's Dream
Many an author and musician have fallen to the seductions of the Latin Caribbean’s most intriguing island and bestselling author Rosanna Ley is no exception. Her latest novel Last Dance in Havana takes readers to the dusty dance…
Chasing Butterflies
Victoria Kellaway visits the birthplace of Gabriel García Márquez, Nobel Prize winner, pioneer of Magical Realism and Colombia’s most famous writer.
Rosa of the Wild Grass: The story of a Nicaraguan family by Fiona Macintosh
The 'Solidarity' generation reunites at the latest book launch by Latin American Bureau and Practical Action. Nearly thirty years in the making, Rosa chronicles the real-life stories of a poor Nicaraguan family over a…
'Breathe' by Leila Segal
A debut collection of short stories exploring the emotional relationships between Cubans and Western visitors to the Caribbean island.