The International Library presents Elvira Navarro with Melissa Lozada-Oliva
12:00 pm PDT | 3:00 pm EDT
National Book Award longlisted Elivra Navarro presents her new collection, Blood Is Dripping onto the Courtyard
The International Library presents Elvira Navarro and Melissa Lozada-Oliva in conversation to celebrate the publication of Blood Is Dripping Onto the Courtyard, a new collection of stories that straddle the line between the horrific and the fantastic from the National Book Award longlisted author of Rabbit Island. Register to join us for the live online lunchtime reading, or view the recording on The Center for Fiction YouTube channel.
About Blood Is Dripping Onto the Courtyard
A young couple’s washing machine fills with blood; a man saves animals who have been hit along the highway, turning his home in a peculiar zoo; the security guard of a half-built housing development suffers from hallucinations; a young woman struggles to understand the cruel neglect of the Parisian suburbs.
This is a world of precarious jobs, towns in the middle of nowhere, abandoned buildings, and cities that are nothing more than blocks of concrete whose contours Elvira Navarro distorts to the point of giving reality the consistency of a nightmare. In an almost imperceptible way, the disturbing infiltrates the lives of these men and women until they find themselves alone at the end of a dark road, afraid to turn around.
About The International Library
This event is part of The International Library, a collaboration between The Center for Fiction and the Center for the Art of Translation. Join us for a series of conversations across time, place, language, and culture, with live audiences in San Francisco and Brooklyn, with more locations to come. This series will guide readers to think critically about how stories are told and explore the inspiration, philosophy, and craft of international storytellers.
Elvira Navarro (Huelva, Spain, 1978) has published both novels and short stories. Her novel A Working Woman, which addresses the impact of the economic crisis on the contemporary female experience, has established her as a leading voice in Spanish literature. She has been the recipient of numerous significant accolades in Spain, including the Jaén Novel Prize and the Andalusian Critics’ Prize. Additionally, Granta magazine has identified her as one of the twenty-two most distinguished Spanish writers under the age of thirty-five. Her collection of short stories, Rabbit Island, has been nominated for the 2021 National Book Award for Foreign Literature. Her most recent novel, The Voices of Adriana, has been awarded the 2023 Cálamo Special Prize.
Melissa Lozada-Oliva is the author of Dreaming of You and Candelaria, which was named one of the best books of 2023 by USA Today and Vogue. She cohosts a podcast called Say More. Her collection of short stories Beyond Reasonable Doubt, Jesus is Alive will be released Fall 2025. She holds her MFA from NYU and lives in Brooklyn.