Cristina Rivera Garza

Cristina Rivera Garza was born in Matamoros, Mexico. She is a writer and educator and teaches Hispanic Studies at the University of Houston. She studied sociology at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México and received a Ph.D. in Latin American history from the University of Houston. She subsequently taught at various universities in the USA and Mexico. Rivera Garza has won many literary awards, including the the Anna Seghers International Prize and the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for Memoir or Autobiography for her book »Liliana’s Invincible Summer«, which focuses on the femicide of her sister Liliana. Several of her books have been translated into English.
Cristina Rivera Garza’s writing bends genres. She connects literary writing and scientific research. Her second novel »Nadie me verá llorar« (1999; Eng. »No One Will See Me Cry«, tr: Andrew Hurley, 2003) tells the story of a patient at the psychiatric clinic La Castañeda in Mexico City. The book is based on Rivera Garza’s doctoral research on this clinic. It depicts the diagnosis of mental illness as a product of specific historical and cultural circumstances. Her writing includes actual clinical dossiers without commentary and thus lets fact and fiction stand side by side. Rivera Garza has coined the term »escrituras geológicas« (Eng. geological writings) for this type of texts that, based on archives and documents, takes up the experiences of other people, in particular those who have lived through violence. She proposes to focus on how to tell their story, so that it can be reimagined from a more critical perspective.
Her writing has also a political dimension, in addressing Mexican national issues such as femicides and the abduction of women. Physicality and sexuality are themes woven into her work, shaping the relationships between her characters, who are always in pursuit of knowledge and seekers by nature. The author’s particular interest is in the inscrutable, that which resists easy narration. According to Rivera Garza, rather than conveying messages, authors should share material experiences, opening up spaces of uncertainty. In her novel, »Lo anterior« (2004), she traces hidden cultural norms, attempting to fathom the processes that precede love. In sparse yet poetic language, she brings to light the contents of a note which one of the novel’s characters carries around: »Love is always a reflection«.
Integrating diverse academic disciplines and art forms and fostering dialogue around writing are central to Rivera Garza’s work. She teaches Creative Writing workshops/seminars and runs the PhD Program in Creative Writing in Spanish at the University of Houston. She is the Hugh Roy and Lillie Cranz Cullen Distinguished Chair at the University of Houston. A significant aspect of her work includes leading workshops across the U.S., Mexico, and Europe. At the University of Houston, for example, she curated an interdisciplinary program that explores the connections between writing, memory research, brain activity, and creativity. Rivera Garza has also engaged in cross-disciplinary projects with composers and artists and has contributed widely to journals and edited collections. She created the dramaturgy for the ballet »Revolución Dismantina« by Mexican composer Gabriela Ortiz, which is nominated to five Grammys this year.
Her novels and stories have earned numerous awards and recognitions. In 2001, she received the International Literary Award Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz for her first published novel »Nadie me verá llorar« at the Guadalajara International Book Fair in Mexico. This novel also earned her the IMPAC/CONARTE/ITESM National Award for Best Published Novel in Mexico that same year. Her novel »Yo, Modesta Burgos« won the José Rubén Romero National Literary Award for Best Novel in Mexico in 1997, presented by the National Institute of Fine Arts and Tusquets Press. In 2005, her body of work was internationally recognized when she received the Latin American Literature Award from the Anna Seghers Foundation in Berlin, Germany. Additionally, her novel »La Muerte Me Da« won the Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Award in 2009 at the Guadalajara International Book Fair, further establishing her as one of Mexico’s leading literary voices and making Rivera Garza a two-time winner of this award. The MacArthur Foundation awarded her the »genius« grant in 2020. In 2021, her memoir »El invencible verano de Liliana« was honored with the Xavier Villaurrutia Award, one of Mexico’s most prestigious literary prizes. Most recently, in 2024, her memoir received the Pulitzer Prize in Memoir or Autobiography, marking a major international recognition of her narrative achievements.
In 2023 Rivera Garza was a fellow at the American Academy in Berlin. From 2023 to 2024 she was a DAAD Fellow in Berlin, Germany.