Out November 10, Ilan Stavans’s Popol Vuh: A Retelling introduces this sacred K’iche’ creation epic to contemporary readers with “a mesmerizing, illuminating” new rendition (Ariel Dorfman). The archetypal creation story of Latin America, it’s brought to life here by illustrator Gabriela Larios, from the empty “womb of the sky” at the dawn of creation down to Xibalba, the Maya underworld, through the birth of the K’iche’ people and society, ending with Spanish colonization.
Writes Frederick Luis Aldama, "Larios’s "dexterous admixture of cool washes and vibrant color palettes along with a K’iche’-inspired line-work aesthetic, further unzip our minds to a shared ancestral imaginary. Only my Guatemalan abuelita could cast such storytelling spells over me.”
Below, read Gabriela Larios’s illustrator’s note and preview her illustrations.
Illustrator’s Note
I grew up in the Mesoamerica region, where the stories of Popol Vuh take place. It is a world known for its exuberant nature and its marked contrasts in its modern and ancestral societies. In my art, I portrayed the stages of the creation of human beings and nature through the use of vibrant color palettes, while using darker colors to portray Xibalba, the heartrending Maya underworld. The intimate relationship of the Maya culture with nature and animals was a great inspiration to my artwork.
The arrival of the Spanish conquistadors predestined the decline of the K'iche' society, the subjugation of their culture, and the beginning of a new era.
It has been very meaningful to me to be able to lend artistic and visual language to a work that is an important piece of the Maya historical memory, mythology, and wisdom among new generations.
I hope that my art helps readers immerse themselves in an infinite universe of imagination and charm.
A fantastic world where human beings are made of corn, where life on earth and the underworld are intertwined between mountains and volcanoes, feathered snakes, jaguars, coyotes, wild cats, kingdoms of colorful birds, jocote trees, avocado, cocoa, mango, and apple.
Meet the Illustrator
London-based Salvadoran artist and illustrator Gabriela Larios received her Master of Arts from Camberwell College of Arts, UK in 2007 thanks to an Alban Scholarship. She creates whimsical and colourful collage illustrations that celebrate her deep love of children’s books, textiles and folk art. Her creative world derives from her interest in storytelling and the natural world. There is a naive and playful spirit captured in her work and a strong connection between memories of her childhood in El Salvador and her body of work: tortoises, fish, plants, birds and all the colourful creatures and elements found in her art. Her work has been exhibited in London, Europe and abroad and has appeared in various international books and magazines.
About the Book
About the Author
Ilan Stavans is the publisher of Restless Books and the Lewis-Sebring Professor of Humanities and Latin American and Latino Culture at Amherst College. His books include On Borrowed Words, Spanglish, Dictionary Days, The Disappearance, and A Critic’s Journey. He has edited The Norton Anthology of Latino Literature, the three-volume set Isaac Bashevis Singer: Collected Stories, The Poetry of Pablo Neruda, among dozens of other volumes. He is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including a Guggenheim Fellowship, Chile’s Presidential Medal, the International Latino Book Award, and the Jewish Book Award. Stavans’s work, translated into twenty languages, has been adapted to the stage and screen. A cofounder of the Great Books Summer Program at Amherst, Stanford, Chicago, Oxford, and Dublin, he is the host of the NPR podcast "In Contrast."
by Ilan Stavans
Illustrations by Gabriela Larios
Foreword by Homero Aridjis
2020 Foreword INDIES Gold Winner for Multicultural Fiction
2020 Mass Book Awards Must Read Fiction
An inspired and urgent prose retelling of the Maya myth of creation by acclaimed Latin American author and scholar Ilan Stavans, gorgeously illustrated by Salvadoran folk artist Gabriela Larios and introduced by renowned author, diplomat, and environmental activist Homero Aridjis.
Hardcover ISBN: 9781632062406
Publication date: Nov 10, 2020