The Buzz | Mexican author calls on writers to ‘document’ pandemic

Cooped up at her Bronx home with her daughter and a niece because of the coronavirus pandemic, Mexican writer Valeria Luiselli says she has lowered the “volume and speed” of her life. She is arranging books in alphabetical order, planting legumes on her balcony and listening to old recordings from Argentinian author Julio Cortázar.
Her rhythm has slowed but not the accolades and awards for her latest novel, “Lost Children Archive,” which last week was honored with the British Rathbone Folio Prize. The book, Luiselli’s third novel, is part fiction part documentary: A family’s American road trip mixed with the stories of migrant children along the Mexico-U.S. border.
Luiselli accepted the prize at a ceremony held online because of the global coronavirus outbreak. “The fact that the literary community is still in full swing, even from their homes, and behind their screens, is moving and encouraging,” she said, speaking in Spanish.
“I think it is my duty, and the duty of every writer, whether is a science-fiction writer, a journalist, a poet, each at their own pace and within their own capacities, to document this moment,” she said.
“We are going to need this narrative fabric, some sort of fabric for us to lay down once we overcome this.”