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Scholar Raymond L. Williams Explores the New Latin American Novel

Raymond L. Williams

Latin American literature scholar Raymond L. Williams comes to Pepperdine University on Thursday, Sept. 24, to present a lecture titled, "From García Márquez to Bolaño: the New Latin American Novel." The event begins at 4 p.m. in the Kresge Reading Room of Malibu's Payson Library. 

 

The lecture - sponsored by the International Studies and Languages Division, the Pepperdine Libraries, and the Office of the Associate Provost for Research - coincides with Latino Heritage Month, a national month of celebrating Hispanic history and culture that runs from September 15-October 15 each year.

Williams is a professor of Hispanic Studies at the University of California, Riverside. He is considered a foremost expert on the Latin American novel, including works by some of the most highly acclaimed authors of the 20th and 21st centuries.

"In preparation for his visit, our students have been studying contemporary Latin Amerian literature in their Hispanic Studies classes," says Lila McDowell Carlsen, assistant professor of Hispanic Studies. "They are very much looking forward to meeting this well known professor and literary critic. "

Williams has authored sixteen books on Latin American literature and culture, including: A Companion to García Márquez (in press), The Columbia Guide to the Latin American Novel Since 1945 (2007), The Twentieth Century Spanish-American Novel (2003), Vargas Llosa: otra historia de un deicidio (2001), and The Writings of Carlos Fuentes (1996). He is the recipient of three Fulbright awards and multiple honors from the foreign and cultural ministries of Colombia and Venezuela for teaching and research.

"This month is about awareness and respect," notes Don Lawrence, director of the Office of Intercultural Affairs at Pepperdine. "As citizens of a global world and economy, we must be aware of why our world is the way it is."

The dates of the national month of Latino and Hispanic awareness are significant, as the anniversary dates of the independence of eight major Latin American nations fall on an anniversary within the September 15-October 15 period: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Chile, Belize, and Mexico.

For more information about Williams' lecture, contact Lila Carlsen at (310) 506-4215, or visit the Pepperdine University Libraries Web site.