Marie ARANA

(Lima, Peru) A writer, publisher, journalist and inaugural Literary Director of the Library of Congress. In 2021, she was awarded a lifetime prize in literature from the American Academy of Arts & Letters. Among her many works is a prizewinning memoir, American Chica: Two Worlds, One Childhood (a finalist for the 2001 National Book Award). Her novel Cellophane was a finalist for the prestigious John Sargent Award, and her novel Lima Nights was chosen by Peru's El Comercio as one of the five best Spanish-language novels of the year. Her biography of Simón Bolívar, Bolívar: American Liberator, won the 2014 Los Angeles Times Book Prize. Her history of Latin America, Silver, Sword, and Stone: Three Crucibles in the Latin American Story, was chosen by the American Library Association as the top nonfiction book of the year. Her forthcoming book is LatinoLand: A Portrait of the Largest, Least Understood Minority (2024). She has been Editor in Chief of Book World at the Washington Post, a critic and commentator on fiction and non-fiction books, a specialist in Hispano-American culture, and director of the National Book Festival in Washington D.C. For many years, she has directed literary programming for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Photo: © Frank Schramm

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