How to Read Others: Fiction as Interpretation of Real People

“The novel I’m working on is a hybrid creature, much like my previous book. It will be based on my reconstruction of the life of the artist Feliza Bursztyn and of a series of real events, carried out through interviews and journalistic work, but interpreted through the lens (the language, the strategies) of fiction. Feliza Bursztyn was a Colombian sculptor of Jewish origins whose fascinating life was touched by political and private tensions. After being arrested on false charges in 1980, she went into exile and died in Paris in 1981. She was 48 years old. This is the life that I’m trying to interpret; and this, the interpretation of a life through fiction, will be the subject of my talk. ” Juan Gabriel Vásquez