Ignacio Padilla
Encyclopedia
Ignacio Padilla is a noted Mexican
novelist and short story writer whose works have been translated into several languages. Padilla helped found the "Crack Movement
" along with fellow Mexican writers Eloy Urroz
, Jorge Volpi
, and Pedro Angel Palou as a means for Mexican authors to find their own voice and write beyond magical realism.
, Fyodor Dostoevsky
, and Robert Louis Stevenson
, whose works often centered on the theme of the human identity.
where he was awarded a Bachelor of Arts
in Communication Studies
. He later received a Master's degree
in English Literature
from the University of Edinburgh
and a Doctor of Philosophy
in Hispanic-American literature from the University of Salamanca
.
magazine's Latin American publication while also writing his column, "El baúl de los cadáveres" in Mexico's literary magazine "Sábado."
Padilla received the "Alfonso Reyes
" Mexican literary award in 1989 for his work "Subterráneos" and in 1994 received the "Juan de la Cabada" literary award for his children's story, "Las tormentas del mar embotellado," the "Juan Rulfo
" Mexican Literary Award for a first novel, "La catedral de los ahogados," and the "Malcolm Lowry
" Mexican Literary Award for his literary essay, "El dorado esquivo: espejismo mexicano de Paul Bowles." That same year Padilla published, "El año de los gatos amurallados," which was awarded the Mexican literary award Kalpa
for Science Fiction.
, Eloy Urroz
, Pedro Ángel Palou García, and Ricardo Chávez Castañeda, who collectively presented a proposal based on their literary criticisms and personal opinions of Mexican and Latin American literature. This literary critique, a reaction to the Latin American Boom
, became known as the Crack Manifesto
and was presented as a means for Mexican authors to find their own voice and write beyond Magical Realism. In addition to breaking with the Latin American tradition of Magical Realism, the Crack Movement
called for a return to the complexity of plot and style as found in the works of Latin American authors such as Julio Cortázar
and Jorge Luis Borges
. That same year, Sandro Cohen published Nueva Imagen, a collection of stories by the authors of the Crack Movement.
In 1999 Padilla received the Mexican literary award "José Revueltas
" for his literary essay "Los funerales del alcaraván: historia apócrifa del realismo mágico," as well as the Mexican literary award "Gilberto Owen
" for his short story publication "Las antípodas y el siglo." In 2000, Padilla received the "Premio Primavera de Novela" for his novel, "Amphitryon."
for the Mexican
embassy of Great Britain
, a post he held until 2003. During this time, he republished "Crónicas africanas" which he had previously published in Mexican literary magazine "Nostromo."
In 2007, Mexican President Felipe Calderón Hinojosa named Ignacio Padilla as director of the national library of Mexico "José Vasconcelos
". However, the structural integrity of the building in which the library was housed was unfit to safely house the national library and on March 2007, the decision was made to temporarily close the national library. Padilla released a statement that repairs to the building were absolutely necessary and that he would not open the doors until the building was safe from structural damages. On August 15 of 2007, the Mexican newspaper Milenio Diario
published an article stating that Padilla had stepped down as director of the national library.
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
novelist and short story writer whose works have been translated into several languages. Padilla helped found the "Crack Movement
Crack Movement
The Crack Movement or literature of the Crack generation , describes a literary movement in Mexico that began in the mid-1990s. It was initiated by a number of young Mexican authors who broke with literary conventions in what is thought to have been a reaction to the Latin American Boom...
" along with fellow Mexican writers Eloy Urroz
Eloy Urroz
Eloy Urroz is a Mexican writer. He is currently a professor at The Citadel and College of Charleston in Charleston, South Carolina. He graduated from the National Autonomous University of Mexico in 1996...
, Jorge Volpi
Jorge Volpi
Jorge Luis Volpi Escalante is a Mexican author best known for his 1999 novel En busca de Klingsor. Volpi was born in Mexico City. He studied law and literature at the National Autonomous University of Mexico and received a PhD in Spanish philology at the University of Salamanca in Spain...
, and Pedro Angel Palou as a means for Mexican authors to find their own voice and write beyond magical realism.
Early life
Ignacio Padilla was born in Mexico City in 1968. From an early age, Padilla notes that he was drawn to writing, and as he grew older, he became immersed in the literary works of James JoyceJames Joyce
James Augustine Aloysius Joyce was an Irish novelist and poet, considered to be one of the most influential writers in the modernist avant-garde of the early 20th century...
, Fyodor Dostoevsky
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Fyodor Mikhaylovich Dostoyevsky was a Russian writer of novels, short stories and essays. He is best known for his novels Crime and Punishment, The Idiot and The Brothers Karamazov....
, and Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist and travel writer. His best-known books include Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde....
, whose works often centered on the theme of the human identity.
Education
Padilla received his undergraduate studies at Universidad IberoamericanaUniversidad Iberoamericana
The Ibero-American University is a Mexican private institution of higher education sponsored by the Society of Jesus...
where he was awarded a Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in Communication Studies
Communication studies
Communication Studies is an academic field that deals with processes of communication, commonly defined as the sharing of symbols over distances in space and time. Hence, communication studies encompasses a wide range of topics and contexts ranging from face-to-face conversation to speeches to mass...
. He later received a Master's degree
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
in English Literature
English literature
English literature is the literature written in the English language, including literature composed in English by writers not necessarily from England; for example, Robert Burns was Scottish, James Joyce was Irish, Joseph Conrad was Polish, Dylan Thomas was Welsh, Edgar Allan Poe was American, J....
from the University of Edinburgh
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...
and a Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
in Hispanic-American literature from the University of Salamanca
University of Salamanca
The University of Salamanca is a Spanish higher education institution, located in the town of Salamanca, west of Madrid. It was founded in 1134 and given the Royal charter of foundation by King Alfonso IX in 1218. It is the oldest founded university in Spain and the third oldest European...
.
Early career
Upon completing his higher education studies, Padilla returned to Mexico. During the early 1990s, Padilla worked as an editorial director for PlayboyPlayboy
Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...
magazine's Latin American publication while also writing his column, "El baúl de los cadáveres" in Mexico's literary magazine "Sábado."
Padilla received the "Alfonso Reyes
Alfonso Reyes
Alfonso Reyes Ochoa was a Mexican writer, philosopher and diplomat.-Early life:Alfonso Reyes parents were Bernardo Reyes and Aurelia Ochoa...
" Mexican literary award in 1989 for his work "Subterráneos" and in 1994 received the "Juan de la Cabada" literary award for his children's story, "Las tormentas del mar embotellado," the "Juan Rulfo
Juan Rulfo
Juan Rulfo was a Mexican author and photographer. One of Latin America's most esteemed authors, Rulfo's reputation rests on two slim books, the novel Pedro Páramo , and El Llano en llamas...
" Mexican Literary Award for a first novel, "La catedral de los ahogados," and the "Malcolm Lowry
Malcolm Lowry
Clarence Malcolm Lowry was an English poet and novelist who was best known for his novel Under the Volcano, which was voted No. 11 in the Modern Library 100 Best Novels list.-Biography:...
" Mexican Literary Award for his literary essay, "El dorado esquivo: espejismo mexicano de Paul Bowles." That same year Padilla published, "El año de los gatos amurallados," which was awarded the Mexican literary award Kalpa
Kalpa
Kalpa is a small town in the Sutlej river valley, above Recong Peo in the Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh, Northern India, in the Indian Himalaya. Inhabited by Kinnauri people and famous for its apple orchards. Apples are a major cash-crop for the region...
for Science Fiction.
The Crack Generation
In 1996, Padilla united with longtime friends and fellow writers Jorge VolpiJorge Volpi
Jorge Luis Volpi Escalante is a Mexican author best known for his 1999 novel En busca de Klingsor. Volpi was born in Mexico City. He studied law and literature at the National Autonomous University of Mexico and received a PhD in Spanish philology at the University of Salamanca in Spain...
, Eloy Urroz
Eloy Urroz
Eloy Urroz is a Mexican writer. He is currently a professor at The Citadel and College of Charleston in Charleston, South Carolina. He graduated from the National Autonomous University of Mexico in 1996...
, Pedro Ángel Palou García, and Ricardo Chávez Castañeda, who collectively presented a proposal based on their literary criticisms and personal opinions of Mexican and Latin American literature. This literary critique, a reaction to the Latin American Boom
Latin American Boom
The Latin American Boom was a literary movement of the 1960s and 1970s when the work of a group of relatively young Latin American novelists became widely circulated in Europe and throughout the world...
, became known as the Crack Manifesto
Crack Movement
The Crack Movement or literature of the Crack generation , describes a literary movement in Mexico that began in the mid-1990s. It was initiated by a number of young Mexican authors who broke with literary conventions in what is thought to have been a reaction to the Latin American Boom...
and was presented as a means for Mexican authors to find their own voice and write beyond Magical Realism. In addition to breaking with the Latin American tradition of Magical Realism, the Crack Movement
Crack Movement
The Crack Movement or literature of the Crack generation , describes a literary movement in Mexico that began in the mid-1990s. It was initiated by a number of young Mexican authors who broke with literary conventions in what is thought to have been a reaction to the Latin American Boom...
called for a return to the complexity of plot and style as found in the works of Latin American authors such as Julio Cortázar
Julio Cortázar
Julio Cortázar, born Jules Florencio Cortázar, was an Argentine writer. Cortázar, known as one of the founders of the Latin American Boom, influenced an entire generation of Spanish speaking readers and writers in the Americas and Europe.-Early life:Cortázar's parents, Julio José Cortázar and...
and Jorge Luis Borges
Jorge Luis Borges
Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo , known as Jorge Luis Borges , was an Argentine writer, essayist, poet and translator born in Buenos Aires. In 1914 his family moved to Switzerland where he attended school, receiving his baccalauréat from the Collège de Genève in 1918. The family...
. That same year, Sandro Cohen published Nueva Imagen, a collection of stories by the authors of the Crack Movement.
In 1999 Padilla received the Mexican literary award "José Revueltas
José Revueltas
José Revueltas Sánchez was a Mexican writer, essayist, and political activist. He was part of an important artistic family that included his siblings Silvestre , Fermín and Rosaura .-Life:He was often imprisoned for his political activism, almost from the time he was a boy...
" for his literary essay "Los funerales del alcaraván: historia apócrifa del realismo mágico," as well as the Mexican literary award "Gilberto Owen
Gilberto Owen
Gilberto Owen Estrada was a Mexican poet and diplomat.- Biography :Officially registered as Gilberto Estrada, son of Margarita Estrada from Michoacán, Gilberto Owen was born in Rosario, Sinaloa...
" for his short story publication "Las antípodas y el siglo." In 2000, Padilla received the "Premio Primavera de Novela" for his novel, "Amphitryon."
21st Century
In 2001, Padilla was chosen as Cultural AttachéAttaché
Attaché is a French term in diplomacy referring to a person who is assigned to the diplomatic or administrative staff of a higher placed person or another service or agency...
for the Mexican
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
embassy of Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
, a post he held until 2003. During this time, he republished "Crónicas africanas" which he had previously published in Mexican literary magazine "Nostromo."
In 2007, Mexican President Felipe Calderón Hinojosa named Ignacio Padilla as director of the national library of Mexico "José Vasconcelos
José Vasconcelos
José Vasconcelos Calderón was a Mexican writer, philosopher and politician. He is one of the most influential and controversial personalities in the development of modern Mexico. His philosophy of "indigenismo" affected all aspects of Mexican sociocultural, political, and economic...
". However, the structural integrity of the building in which the library was housed was unfit to safely house the national library and on March 2007, the decision was made to temporarily close the national library. Padilla released a statement that repairs to the building were absolutely necessary and that he would not open the doors until the building was safe from structural damages. On August 15 of 2007, the Mexican newspaper Milenio Diario
Milenio Diario
Milenio is a major national newspaper in Mexico, owned by Grupo Multimedios.It is published in 11 cities across Mexico, including Monterrey, Mexico City, Guadalajara, León, Pachuca, Puebla, Villahermosa, Tampico, Torreón, Toluca, and Xalapa...
published an article stating that Padilla had stepped down as director of the national library.