Local Attention for Ilan Stavans' "El Illuminado"
Ilan Stavans, author of A Critic's Journey, was featured in the ABQ Journal for his most recent project, a graphic novel called El Illuminado, which the paper describes as "a mystery set amid the Crypto-Jews of New Mexico." Professor Stavans, author and literary critic, chose this interesting subject because of a "personal and professional interest ... as well as his desire to marry history with imagination."
"In my childhood, I came across many people who thought they had a Crypto-Jewish past,” he told the Journal. “In some of these families, there was a key that had passed from generation to generation that would open a door in Spain when the family was in Spain. It was one of those elements of folklore tradition."
Check out the article here, and be sure to stay tuned for Stavans' upcoming book from the University of Michigan Press, Muy Pop, coming in June 2013!
