In conversation with Carla Guelfenbein
The School of Languages and Cultures and the Embassy of Chile, in partnership with the Auckland Writers Festival, and in collaboration with the New Zealand Centre for Literary Translation and NEKE (The NZ Journal of Translation Studies) welcomed award-winning Chilean author Carla Guelfenbein to a lunchtime conversation on 9 May.
Among the distinguished guests were HE Mr Fausto López Crozet (Ambassador to Argentina), HE Mr Paulo Cesar de Camargo (Ambassador to Brazil), HE Mr Mario Alzugaray Rodríguez (Ambassador to Cuba), Deputy Head of Mission, Cuba, Ms Saimin Fis Abad, HE Mr Rodrigo Espinosa (Ambassador to Chile), and Consul to Chile Ms María Fernanda Gómez.
Carla Guelfenbein was born in Santiago, Chile, and lived in England for 11 years, where she took degrees at the University of Essex (Biology) and Central St Martin's (Graphic Design). Returning to Chile, she worked as Art Director for BBDO and for the magazine Elle, until she decided to become a full-time novelist. She is the author of the novels El revés del alma, La mujer de mi vida, El resto es silencio, Nadar desnudas, Contigo en la distancia, Llévame al cielo and La estación de las mujeres (2019). Acclaimed by readers and critics alike, her short stories have appeared in important magazines and anthologies; she has been translated into 16 languages and published by some of the most prestigious publishers in Europe. Her novel Contigo en la distancia was the recipient of the prestigious Alfaguara Prize in 2015.
In the interviewing panel were students Inés Delgado (International Relations and Political Sciences), Jessica Goodwin (Hons in Spanish and Linguistics), Alex Hannagan (Spanish and Law), and alumna Mika Homolja (Honours in Spanish and Linguistics, who has recently completed an MA looking at ethnic minority youths in New Zealand).