The Lit & Luz Festival...
began in 2012, unofficially, with a series of live, bilingual events following the release of MAKE Magazine issue #13, “Intercambio/Exchange,” a bilingual edition featuring new work from Latin American writers and created in response to the dismal amount of translated literature available in the US.
In 2014, through a grant from the MacArthur Foundation’s International Connections Fund, the Lit & Luz Festival was formed to support the creation of new art through international collaboration and make space for essential dialogues between residents of Mexico and the United States. It has since produced yearly events in Mexico City and Chicago, with writers and artists from Chicago, Mexico, and beyond.
This year’s MAKE Literary Productions annual Fall Lit & Luz Festival of Language, Literature, and Art is presented in venues throughout Chicago. Throughout the week’s dozen programs, the participants will address the impact of current social and political events on their practices and the arts, in general. Once again, the festival features its signature program, the Live Magazine Show, featuring new collaborations and presentations from this year’s Collaboration Cohort at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, November 2, 2024. The theme of the 2024-25 festival and the Live Show is “Saturation/ Saturación.” and it will take place this fall in Chicago and the following spring in CDMX.
At its heart, Lit & Luz is a cultural exchange between writers and visual artists from Mexico and United States. With the festival taking place first in Chicago, then Mexico City, it is a conversation between two countries. We choose to focus on collaborations in order to foster meaningful and lasting professional relationships and cross-cultural friendships. Past participants include luminaries such as Cristina Rivera Garza, Valeria Luiselli, José Olivarez, Jac Jemc, and Erika L. Sánchez.
Art and language are key to understanding culture and community. With events such as Lit & Luz, we hope to strengthen the relationship between the two countries, and in particular, to increase the distribution of literature and art between Mexico and the US.
El Lit & Luz Festival…
comenzó en 2012, de forma no oficial, con una serie de eventos en vivo y bilingües, seguidos del lanzamiento del No. 13 de MAKE Magazine, “Intercambio/Exchange”, una edición bilingüe con nuevas obras de escritores latinoamericanxs y creadas en respuesta a la escasa cantidad de literatura traducida disponible en los Estados Unidos.
En 2014, gracias a una beca del International Connections Fund de la MacArthur Foundation, el Lit & Luz Festival fue formado para apoyar la creación de nuevas obras de arte a través de la colaboración internacional y crear un espacio esencial de diálogo entre lxs residentes de México y los Estados Unidos. Desde entonces se producen eventos anuales en la Ciudad de México y Chicago, con escritores y artistas de Chicago, México y más allá.
El otoño de este año, Lit & Luz, Festival de Lengua, Literatura y Arte, es presentado en distintos recintos de Chicago. A lo largo de una semana de una docena de eventos, lxs participantes abordarán el impacto de los actuales acontecimientos sociales y políticos en sus prácticas y en las artes en general. Una vez más, el festival cuenta con su evento característico, el Live Magazine Show, con nuevas colaboraciones y presentaciones del Grupo de Colaboración de este año, en el Museum of Contemporary Art de Chicago, el 2 de noviembre de 2024. El tema del festival 2024-25, y del Live Show, es “Saturation/Saturación”, y tendrá lugar en el otoño en Chicago y la primavera siguiente en la CDMX.
En esencia, Lit & Luz es un intercambio cultural entre escritores y artistas visuales de México y Estados Unidos. El festival toma lugar primero en Chicago, y después en la Ciudad de México, siendo una conversación entre ambos países. Elegimos enfocarnos en colaboraciones para fomentar relaciones profesionales significativas y duraderas, así como amistades interculturales. Entre nuestros pasados participantes se encuentran luminarias como Cristina Rivera Garza, Valeria Luiselli, José Olivarez, Jac Jemc, y Erika L. Sánchez.
El arte y la lengua son clave para entender la cultura y la comunidad. Con eventos como Lit & Luz, esperamos fortalecer la relación entre ambos países y, en particular, incrementar la distribución de la literatura y el arte entre México y los Estados Unidos.
Support our free programming with your donation.
Apoya nuestra programación gratuita con tu donación
2024-25 Team
Lit & Luz is produced by MAKE Literary Productions, NFP
MAKE Literary Productions Interim Co-Executive Directors: Dr. Héctor García Chávez and Laurie Sartain
Operations Director: Frances Lee
Experience Director: Mario Gastelum
Partnerships & Sponsorships Director: Angelica Davila
Visual Arts Director, Chicago: Zespo
Visual Arts Director, Mexico City: Esteban King
Literary Arts Director, Chicago / Lit & Luz Book Club Founder and Director: Miguel Jiménez
Literary Arts Director, Mexico City: David Ruano
Founding Artistic Director: Daniel Borzutzky
Collaboration Cohort Coordinator: Libia Bianibi
Artistic Associates, Collaboration Cohort: Joel Craig, Kamilah Foreman, Kathleen Rooney
Writing Workshops Coordinator: Antonio Díaz Oliva
Media Relations Coordinator: Alisha Gorder
Communications Coordinator: Mariana Mejía
Development: John W. Bateman
Consultant: Sarah Dodson
Translation and Editorial: Ryan Greene, MaryHope Lee, and Claudia di Ibieta
Creative Director and Website Design: Bowen Welles
MAKE Literary Productions Board of Directors:
Sarah Dodson, Consultant
Natalie Edwards, Director of Major Giving, Chicago History Museum
Kamilah Foreman, Publications Director, Dia Art Foundation
Héctor García Chávez, Ph.D., President and Interim Co-Executive Director, MAKE Literary Productions Director, Women and Gender Studies, Loyola University Chicago
Laurie Sartain, Interim Co-Executive Director, MAKE Literary Productions
Mike Zapata, Author
