Conversation with Valeria Luiselli

After the international recognition achieved by her novels La historia de mis dientes (The Story of My Teeth) and Los ingrávidos (Faces in the Crowd), published by Sexto Piso in 2013 and 2014 respectively, Valeria Luiselli felt impelled by the political reality and her personal circumstances to help as a court interpreter in New York at hearings of Central American immigrant minors at risk of deportation. As a result of this experience, Luiselli wrote the essay Los niños perdidos. Un ensayo en 40 preguntas (Sexto Piso, 2016; published in English as Tell Me How It Ends: An Essay in 40 Questions), which brought together the children's testimonies about their dangerous journeys accross the border. In Desierto sonoro (Sexto Piso, 2019; published in English as Lost Children Archive), Luisellli interweaves these testimonies with her fictional story, which recounts a family's road trip in the south of the United States.