Childbearing as Art, Technology, Obsession: Jazmina Barrera at the Texas Book Festival
November 6 | 11:30 am – 12:15 pm CT
Capitol Extension Room E2.012| 1100 Congress Ave | Downtown Austin, TX
Join Jazmina Barrera, author of Linea Nigra and On Lighthouses, and Elisa Albert, author of Human Blues, for a conversation(opens in a new tab) at the Texas Book Festival(opens in a new tab)! Held each fall in and around the State Capitol in downtown Austin, the annual Festival Weekend features a rich variety of author presentations and panels, book signings, cooking demonstrations, programs and activities for kids of all ages, food trucks, and more.
Publishers Weekly–starred Linea Nigra, a profound book-length essay on the art and mystery of childbearing, collects meditations of motherhood from Jazmina Barrera, who wrote through her first pregnancy, birthing, feeding, and beyond. In Elisa Albert’s new novel Human Blues(opens in a new tab)— also the recipient of a starred Publishers Weekly review— singer-songwriter Aviva Rosner desperately wants a child but cannot conceive. Structured around nine menstrual cycles, Aviva’s story wrestles with technological enhancements to human reproduction. Ploughshares calls Human Blues a “thought-provoking and multi-faceted contribution to the discourse on bodily autonomy and reproductive choices.” Their conversation will be moderated by Ashley Nelcy García.
Jazmina Barrera’s books have been published in nine countries and translated to English, Dutch, Portuguese, Italian, and French. Her book Cuerpo extraño (Foreign Body) was awarded the Latin American Voices prize by Literal Publishing, and On Lighthouses was chosen for the Indie Next list by IndieBound. Linea Nigra was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle’s Gregg Barrios Book in Translation Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Autobiography Prize, CANIEM’s Book of the Year award, and the Amazon Primera Novela (First Novel) Award. She is editor and co-founder of Ediciones Antílope. She lives in Mexico City.