Presented in partnership with the University of Pittsburgh Center for Bioethics & Health Law.

Pulitzer-prize winning poet and translator Forrest Gander and Mexican poet Coral Bracho celebrate the forthcoming release of Bracho's English collection It Must Be a Misunderstanding. Coral Bracho is credited with changing the course of contemporary Mexican poetry and remains one of her country’s most influential poets. This newest release, the second Gander/Bracho translation, charts a different course: part poetry collection and part memoir, focusing on the journey through Bracho's mother's Alzheimers. Forrest and Coral join us live for a bilingual reading and discussion centered on translating something as deeply personal as a mother's illness.

Language: Spanish
Format: Live conversation in English; viewed virtually

Forrest Gander is a writer, translator, and editor of several anthologies of writing from Spain and Mexico. He is the author of more than a dozen books, including Twice Alive; Be With, which was longlisted for the 2018 National Book Award; and Core Samples from the World, a finalist for both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award. His other books include two novels, As A Friend and The Trace; the poetry collections Be With, Eye Against Eye, Torn Awake, Science & Steepleflower; and the essay collection Faithful Existence: Reading, Memory & Transcendence. Gander’s essays have appeared in The Nation, The Boston Review, and the New York Times Book Review. He is the recipient of fellowships from the Library of Congress, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Guggenheim, Howard, United States Artists, and Whiting Foundations.

Coral Bracho (Mexico City, 1951) Her most recent poetry books include Debe ser un Malentendido, 2018, and Poesía Reunida (1977-2018), 2019. She has been a John Simon Guggenheim Fellow for poetry, and a Sistema Nacional de Creadores Fellow (México). She received the Xavier Villaurrutia Award in 2004 for Ese espacio, ese jardín, The National Poetry Award (Aguascalientes 1981) for El ser que va a morir, and The Latino World Poetry award, 2016, among others. Some of her books and poetry anthologies have been translated into English, French, Italian, Portuguese, and Chinese. Among them: Firefly under the Tongue.

Moderated by Kit Schulter, poet-translator & bookmaker living in Mexico City.

Pittsburgh International Literary Festival (LitFest) is a 10-day event that considers themes of migration, identity, and displacement with an emphasis on works in translation. (Full Schedule Here)

LitFest: Forrest Gander & Coral Bracho