Valeria Luiselli facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Valeria Luiselli
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Luiselli at the 2016 Hay Festival
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| Born | August 16, 1983 Mexico City, Mexico |
| Occupation | Author |
| Education | National Autonomous University of Mexico (BA) Columbia University (PhD) |
| Period | 2013–present |
Valeria Luiselli (born August 16, 1983) is a talented author from Mexico and the United States. She writes both essays and novels. Her books have won many important awards and have been translated into over 20 languages. You can find her work in famous publications like The New York Times and The New Yorker.
Valeria Luiselli is known for her book of essays called Sidewalks. She also wrote the novel Faces in the Crowd, which won an award from the Los Angeles Times. Her 2015 novel, The Story of My Teeth, was also recognized with the Los Angeles Times Book Prize.
In 2019, she received a MacArthur Fellowship, often called a "Genius Grant," which is a very special award. Her 2019 novel, Lost Children Archive, won the Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction.
Contents
About Valeria Luiselli's Career
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Valeria Luiselli first studied Philosophy at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. After that, she moved to New York City. She later earned a Ph.D. in comparative literature from Columbia University.
Today, she teaches literature and creative writing at Bard College. She also works with art galleries and has written for the New York City Ballet.
Many of Luiselli's books are inspired by real-life events. For example, The Story of My Teeth (2015) was first written in parts for workers at a juice factory in Mexico. Her nonfiction book Tell Me How It Ends: An Essay in 40 Questions (2017) is based on her time helping young migrants from Central America. These experiences also influenced her novel Lost Children Archive.
Valeria Luiselli's Life Story
Valeria Luiselli was born in Mexico City. When she was two, her family moved to Madison, Wisconsin. Because her father worked for NGOs and later as a diplomat, her family lived in many different countries. These included Costa Rica, South Korea, and South Africa.
When she was 16, her parents separated, and she moved back to Mexico City with her mother. She later studied philosophy at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. She also lived in Spain and France before coming to New York. She now lives in the Bronx with her family.
Valeria Luiselli's Work for Social Causes
Valeria Luiselli is very passionate about helping others. She started a program that teaches creative writing to girls in a detention center in New York. She also researches and writes about people in detention centers in the United States. She is working on a performance piece with poet Natalie Diaz about these important topics.
Luiselli is especially interested in helping children who are seeking safety and new homes from Latin America. This important topic is a main theme in her 2019 novel, Lost Children Archive. She started writing this book in 2014 because she felt strongly about the migration crisis. She had worked as a court translator for children from Latin America.
Before finishing Lost Children Archive, Luiselli published Tell Me How It Ends: An Essay in 40 Questions. This book uses the same questions she asked children in court. It also shares her own experiences applying for a green card. Writing this essay helped her write Lost Children Archive with more open questions rather than strong political statements.
Valeria Luiselli's Books
Sidewalks
Sidewalks is Valeria Luiselli's first book of essays. In this book, she explores ideas about moving, traveling, and thinking deeply about life.
Faces in the Crowd
Faces in the Crowd (2011) is a novel that tells a story from three different viewpoints. It follows a young mother who works as a translator in New York. It also includes the main character of the mother's own story and a Mexican poet from the 20th century named Gilberto Owen. These three stories are cleverly woven together.
The Story of My Teeth
Luiselli's second novel, The Story of My Teeth, is about a character named Gustavo (Highway) Sánchez Sánchez. He is an auctioneer who claims to sell the teeth of famous authors and historical figures. He uses the money to buy what he believes are the teeth of Marilyn Monroe to replace his own. This book was written in chapters and shared with workers at a juice factory in Mexico. The workers read the chapters aloud and gave their thoughts, which Luiselli used to write the next parts of the story.
Tell Me How It Ends: An Essay in 40 Questions
In this book, Luiselli shares her experiences working as an interpreter for children who have migrated from Central America. The book connects the dangerous journeys of these children to the United States with Luiselli's own experiences of getting a green card and staying in the country with her family.
Lost Children Archive
This is Valeria Luiselli's fifth book and the first one she wrote in English. She said she wrote it to express her strong feelings about the migration crisis. Lost Children Archive follows a mother, father, and their two children on a road trip from New York to Arizona during a hot summer. Along the way, they learn about the challenges faced by immigrants and realize they might soon face their own difficulties.
Awards and Special Recognition
- 2018: American Book Award for Tell Me How It Ends: An Essay in 40 Questions
- 2019: MacArthur Fellowship
- 2020: Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Literature, Vilcek Foundation
- 2020: Folio Prize
- 2021: International Dublin Literary Award
- 2023: Royal Society of Literature International Writer
See also
In Spanish: Valeria Luiselli para niños
