Fireside Chat with Alejandro Varela ’01 and Ernesto Quiñonez
Date
May 25, 2022 @ 5:30 pm
Venue
New York City, NY
Event Details
NYC Cornellians, the Cornell Latinx Alumni Association and Cornell Pride welcome Alejandro Varela A&S ’01 and Ernesto Quiñonez, Associate Professor in the Literature Department at Cornell’s College of Arts and Sciences, for a discussion on creative writing, Latinx fiction, and Alejandro’s debut novel The Town of Babylon. Please join us for an evening where our Cornell community will enjoy an interesting discussion and each other’s company!
The Town of Babylon is the story of Andrés, a gay Latinx professor who returns to his hometown in the wake of his husband’s infidelity. Over the course of the novel, he reconnects with family and his local community as he deals with past wounds. Captivating and poignant; The Town of Babylon is all about young love and a close examination of our social systems and the toll they take when they fail us. You can purchase The Town of Babylon on Amazon or Barnes and Nobles. Alumni are encouraged to buy and read the book ahead of time.
Event Details:
Date: Wednesday, May 25th, 2022
Time: 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. EDT
5:30 – 6:00 p.m. Welcome reception
6:00 – 7:00 p.m. Fireside discussion
7:00 – 7:30 p.m. Reception continues/book signing
7:30 p.m. Event ends
Location: NYC Cornell Alumni Affairs and Development Office
230 Park Ave, Suite 1510, New York, NY 10169
Fee: $25.00 per person*
*Fee includes appetizers and soft drinks. All attendees must register in advance, and sign-ups will close 48 hours before the event date.
Please adhere to the Cornell University guidelines in regard to COVID-19.
About the Speakers:
Alejandro Varela ’01 (he/him) is a writer based in New York. His work has appeared in The Point Magazine, Boston Review, Harper’s Magazine, The Rumpus, Joyland Magazine, The Brooklyn Rail, The Offing, Blunderbuss Magazine, Pariahs (an anthology, SFA Press, 2016), the Southampton Review, The New Republic, and has received honorable mention from Glimmer Train Press. He is a 2019 Jerome Fellow in Literature. He was a resident in the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council’s 2017–2018 Workspace program and a 2017 NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellow in Nonfiction. Alejandro was an associate editor at Apogee Journal from 2015 to 2020. His graduate studies were in public health. His first book, The Town of Babylon, is out 3/22/2022. His second book, The People Who Report More Stress, is forthcoming (Astra House, 2023).
Ernesto Quiñonez is an Associate Professor of the Literature Department at Cornell University’s College of Arts and Sciences. The New York Times claimed Ernesto Quiñonez’s debut novel, Bodega Dreams (Random House), a “New Immigrant Classicâ€, which has since gone on to become a landmark in contemporary literature and is required reading in many high schools and colleges around the country. His essays have appeared in The New York Times, Esquire, Newsweek, El Pais, Latina Magazine and elsewhere. He was raised in Spanish Harlem, New York City, and is a product of public education from kindergarten to the City College of New York.
