The Novel and Social Change: A Conversation with Jennifer Clement

Jennifer Clement is an award winning author, novelist, poet, and activist. She has received many awards, including National Endowment of the Arts, MacDowell, Santa Maddalena, and Guggenheim Fellowships. She was the President of PEN Mexico (2009-2012) and the first woman president of PEN International (2015).

Prayers for the Stolen (2014) and Gun Love (2018) are her best known novels. Prayers depicts the struggles, aspiration, and resilience of women in rural Mexico, under the shadow of drug wars and poverty. It was the New York Times Editor’s Choice Book; it was also picked by the Nobel Laureate Kazuo Ishiguro as the New Statesman Book of the Year. Prayer was later made into a film, directed by Tatiana Huezo. Gun Love, a story told from the perspective of a teenage girl, exposes American love affairs with fire arms. Gun Love was also made into a film later, directed by Julie Taymor.

Jennifer Clement will give a reading from Prayers for the Stolen and Gun Love and discuss the research and work that went into writing these two novels. In addition, she will discuss how these books have or have not created social change


Date and Time: 5:30-7:00pm
HG 1030

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