Award-Winning Author of Infinite Country & The Faraway World, Patricia Engel, visits Washington, D.C.
Last week, Colombian-American author Patricia Engel visited the capital to promote her new book The Faraway World (2023). Her previous book, Infinite Country (2021), was a New York Times bestseller and a Reese’s Book Club selection. Her latest book comprises ten short stories set in different countries and explores themes such as exile, migration, sacrifice, love, and more.
On January 25th, 2023, Marie Arana, the inaugural Literary Director of the Library of Congress, interviewed Patricia during her first event in DC at Politics and Prose. As soon as they started the conversation, they shared the many things they have in common — they are both from Andien countries, have connections with Simon & Schuster, and have immigration stories.
Patricia’s ten short stories were written in the span of 12 years while writing other books. They all come from different directions and explore the “what ifs.”
The author also spoke about how immigration affects us and her beginnings as a creative writer. “My grandmother is the one who wrote,” Patricia says. “She was very private. Writing is something you did for yourself.” That’s why at the beginning, Patricia wrote for herself. She remembers how a professor didn’t believe in her talent during her undergrad years. It took her a few years after graduating from college to study writing formally. The author earned her MFA at Florida International University. She is now an Associate Professor in the Creative Writing at the University of Miami.
During her second event in the DC area at Old Town Books, Alexandria, on Thursday, January 26th, Patricia Engel talked with Lupita Aquino — Latinx Bookstagrammer and literature-hungry enthusiast (better known as Lupita Reads) and amiga. The conversation flowed flawlessly among them–– it was like listening to a couple of friends talk about books.
Patricia read from “Aida,” the first story in her collection, and the second story she wrote. “I feel it is the place to begin,” she says. This story explores the disappearance of Aida and how it affects her family. All the stories echo each other. Patricia and Lupita also talked about “Guapa,” — the fifth story in her collection that explores body alterations. I was immediately drawn to this piece and read it on my way home. The protagonist in this story obsessively changes her body to adapt to society’s toxic demands. “Guapa” explores the effects of unrealistic expectations of how your body should look — an issue affecting many women and men.
Another topic that fascinated me from this talk was how Patricia spoke about trauma. “The lens in how we see trauma — it’s so generative,” she says, rejecting the idea that trauma is darkness. “There is beauty in darkness. Every writer has things that haunt you.”
Overall, both of her events were inspirational. I stayed at the end to ask questions I didn’t dare to ask in public. Patricia was a delight to listen to and talk to. At the end of both events, I found myself at peace and motivated to keep writing.
Patricia is currently on a book tour, so you can catch her in any of these cities:
