PEN AMERICA PRESENTS: AFTERGLOW – WRITING AFTER RECOGNITION – FICTION
In Javier Fuentes’ Countries of Origin: A Novel, pastry chef Demetrio returns to Spain as an undocumented immigrant, leaving behind his beloved uncle in New York. On the flight, he meets the sensitive, aristocratic Jacobo, sparking a subtle electricity. Amid Madrid’s bars and coastal beaches, they form an intense relationship, navigating identity, class, and intimacy, until a family tragedy forces them to confront their true feelings. In Torrey Peters’ Stag Dance: A Novel & Stories, the titular novel follows a group of restless lumberjacks who plan a dance that some will attend as women, which will culminate in an astonishing vision of gender and transition. The stories imagine a gender apocalypse, intrigue and cruelty at a Quaker boarding school, and a crossdresser’s choice at a party weekend in Las Vegas. Moderated by Sabir Sultan, director of the World Voices Festival and literary programs at PEN America.
Buy Countries of Origin: A Novel – Fuentes
Buy Stag Dance: A Novel & Stories – Peters
