Elena Poniatowska

The 2006 Literary Journalism Conversation series closes with a talk entitled, “Literature that Comes from the Street” by Elena Poniatowska.   The author of over two dozen books, translated into numerous languages, Poniatowska has been called the Doris Lessing of Mexico. From her first non-fiction book about a washerwoman in the streets of Mexico; to her novel Dear Diego, about the painter Diego Rivera; her novel i, about the great photographer Tina Modotti; and her book on Frida Kahlo The Camera Seduced, she has shaped contemporary Mexican Literature. She was the founder of one of Mexico’s most important newspapers La Jornada, and Mexico’s first feminist magazine Fem.  She has worked actively in Mexican politics and will give us an up-to-date account of the turmoil and confusion in the current presidential elections