Mexican Writers on Writing

The pieces collected in Mexican Writers on Writing present a vibrant cross-section of Mexican authors’ thoughts on the written word, from Carlos Fuentes’s instructional Decalogue, to Bernardo de Balbuena’s eloquent dissertation on the beauty of poetry, to Octavio Paz’s analysis of the essence of translation. From the literature of colonialism and conquest to contemporary writing, these writers reveal intimate views on what it is to be a writer, and explore just how flexible the boundaries of what we have termed "literature" can be. Contributors include Bernardo de Balbuena, Carmen Boullosa, Emilio Carballido, Ricardo Chávez Castañeda, Rosario Castellanos, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, Bartolomé de las Casas, José Joaquín Fernández de Lizardi, Carlos Fuentes, Margo Glantz, Enrique González Martínez, Angeles Mastretta, José Emilio Pacheco, Ignacio Padilla, Pedro Ángel Palou, Octavio Paz, Elena Poniatowska, Alberto Ruy Sánchez, Ilan Stavans, Eloy Urroz, Juan Villoro, and Jorge Volpi.