Julián Delgado Lopera on “Pretend You’re Dead and I Carry You”

Being reviewed: Advertisement Today’s episode features Julián Delgado Lopera talking about his new novel, Pretend You’re Dead and I Carry You, just out from Liveright. It’s as vivid and funny as it is profound. We talk with Lopera about the depths of Colombia’s Magdalena River, the fluidity of language, and what he describes as “Travesti Lore” and the “sacred travesti gospel.” Set in Bogotá, Pretend You’re Dead and I Carry You has many hallmarks of Latin American literature—striking natural landscapes, religion, fútbol—but in Lopera’s novel these more traditional topics are suffused with sex and sexuality, ancestral trauma, and our universal desire to be loved. Lopera teaches creative writing at the City University of New York. His first book, Fiebre Tropical, published by Feminist Press, won several awards. Subscribe to Writing Latinos on Apple, Spotify, or Pandora to listen and to be notified when new episodes are released. Our RSS feed is available here. View a transcript of the episode here.