This March, City of Asylum is delighted to welcome Pulitzer Prize winner Cristina Rivera Garza as she shares her latest novel, Autobiography of Cotton. The novel is a work of autofiction inspired by her grandparents and Mexican writer and activist José Revueltas, which speaks to agricultural colonization, labor activism, environmental degradation, and cross-border migration.
In an interview with Literary Hub, when asked about what inspired this new work, Cristina shared, "When discussions about immigration and the US-Mexico border became increasingly vicious, I almost instinctively turned to my own history as heir to entire generations of working-class migrants in the United States...I knew—and had lived through—a radically different experience of the border but realized, and quite painfully so, that I did not know enough...What began as a curiosity at first, and then became a raw desire to honor the lives of the people that had made space for me in this country, catapulted me into years of research and writing. We turn to the past when the present is unbearable. We turn to the past, dashing through the dark, carrying questions that flare like messages set on fire."
Cristina will be joined in conversation by moderator Anderson Tepper. There will be a public reception following the program for participating artists and attendees, complete with light refreshments.
