From Griffin to Axolotl presents the bestiary as a distinct genre within Hispanic literature, examining its resurgence in the contemporary canon.
Out now! buff.ly/53dbXXD
Lunch Hour Suminagashi - Lessons in life and water marbling ailencruz.substack.com/p/lunch-hour...
Kitchen Counter Études | A not-so-thrilling tale of a goal foregone.
ailencruz.substack.com/p/kitchen-co...
Events that did not happen to me, but did happen nonetheless. Cosas que no me pasaron a mí, pero que sí pasaron.
ailencruz.substack.com/p/the-third-...
Sobre cómo la fiscal pasó a compartir la culpa | On how the prosecutor came to share in the guilt. English translation follows the original. ailencruz.substack.com/p/un-misteri...
On the daily mysteries that spice life up | Sobre los pequeños misterios que ensalzan la vida. La traducción al español sigue el original.
ailencruz.substack.com/p/little-sup...
Book cover for From Griffin to Axolotl: Reimagining the Bestiary in Contemporary Hispanic Literature by Ailen Cruz (part of the McGill-Queen's Iberian and Latin American Cultures Series, forthcoming December 2025), with a stylized griffin and axolotl on opposite sides of a box. The fox is cunning, the lion is brave. These familiar ideas span back to the medieval bestiary – short, animal-centred texts, often illustrated, used to disseminate Christian teachings in medieval society. Translated into dozens of languages, bestiaries were wildly popular until the twelfth century. After centuries of obscurity, six of Latin America’s most prominent writers – Juan José Arreola, Jorge Luis Borges, Nicolás Guillén, Augusto Monterroso, Pablo Neruda, and José Emilio Pacheco – took up the bestiary during the experimental Latin American avant-garde and Boom periods. This book presents the bestiary as a distinct genre within Hispanic literature, examining its resurgence in the contemporary canon. Analyzing a corpus of over eighty bestiaries collected through field research in Canada, Argentina, Mexico, and Spain, Ailén Cruz explores the evolutions of the genre. https://www.mqup.ca/from-griffin-to-axolotl-products-9780228026310.php
Book cover for A Million Aunties by Alecia McKenzie (Akashic Books), with a green and yellow leaf against a deep yellow background. After a personal tragedy upends his world, American-born artist Chris travels to his mother’s homeland in the Caribbean hoping to find some peace and tranquility. He plans to spend his time painting in solitude and coming to terms with his recent loss and his fractured relationship with his father. Instead, he discovers a new extended and complicated “family.” The people he meets help him to heal, even as he supports them in unexpected ways. Told from different points of view, this is a compelling novel about unlikely love, friendship, and community, with surprises along the way. https://www.akashicbooks.com/catalog/a-million-aunties/
Daily(ish) #SmallPress #books: A Million Aunties by Alecia McKenzie (@akashicbooks.bsky.social) & From Griffin to Axolotl: Reimagining the Bestiary in Contemporary Hispanic Literature by Ailén Cruz (@mcgillqueensup.bsky.social). Details = alt-text. #DSPBposts 💙📚 #BookSky @ailencruz.bsky.social
My first #novel, based on the lives of the daughter, niece, sisters, and wife of legendary Spanish writer Miguel de #Cervantes, author of #DonQuixote, and published by the amazing #HouseOfAnansiPress, can be preordered now. Secure your copy!
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Va el primer capítulo de la vez que me aburrí de ver cómo la gente cocinaba en línea y me autoinvité a hacer una pasantía en una pastelería francesa.
open.substack.com/pub/ailencru...
Here's the first installment of a three-part saga about the time I got sick of watching people bake online and decided to invite myself to stage at a French patisserie.
open.substack.com/pub/ailencru...
