Writing Towards the Truth and Away from Invisibility: A Conversation with Patricia Engel

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Published: Apr 26, 2021
Keywords:
diaspora, invisibility, immigration, Colombian-American writers, Colombian women writers, diáspora, invisibilidad, inmigración, escritores colombiano-americanos, escritoras colombianas

Main Article Content

Annie Mendoza
East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania

Abstract

Invisibility, displacement, and the immigrant experience are all key themes of US Latinx literature, and recently, more writers who identify as Colombian-American have garnered attention for their narratives that approach these subject matters.  In this interview, writer Patricia Engel speaks about representing the Colombian and Latinx diasporic experience in her work.  Engel also discusses her evolution as a writer and her research process throughout her novels Vida (2010), It’s Not Love, It’s Just Paris (2013), and The Veins of the Ocean (2016), as well as the importance of authenticity to history and geography within the representation of global communities. 

Article Details

Issue
Vol. 57 (2021)
Section
Interviews
Author Biography

Annie Mendoza, East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania

She holds a Ph.D. in Literature from the University of California, San Diego.  She is the author of Rewriting the Nation: Novels by Women on Violence in Colombia (AILCFH, 2015) and has published essays in Revista de Estudios Colombianos, Zapruder World, Voces del Caribe, IntervenXions (LatinX Project at NYU) and Poemas y cantos: antología crítica de autoras afrodescendientes. Currently, she focuses on diasporic representations of Colombians in literature, film, and theater. She is an Associate Professor at East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania.