Authors on Tap: Katixa Agirre in Chicago

Spanish writer Katixa Agirre presents her novel “Mothers Don’t” in conversation with publisher Chad W. Post.

Mothers Don’t (2019) is a novel by Katixa Agirre translated from the Spanish by Katie Whittemore. In this event, the writer presents this novel together with her publisher Chad W. Post, followed by a conversation and Q&A.

About the novel

A mother kills her twins. Another woman, the narrator of this story, is about to give birth. She is a writer, and she realizes that she knows the woman who committed the infanticide. An obsession is born. She takes an extended leave, not for child-rearing, but to write. To research and write about the hidden truth behind the crime.

Mothers don’t write. Mothers give life. How could a woman be capable of neglecting her children? How could she kill them? Is motherhood a prison? Complete with elements of a traditional thriller, this novel combines chronicle and essay. Katixa Agirre reflects on the relationship between motherhood and creativity, in dialogue with writers such as Sylvia Plath and Doris Lessing. Mothers Don’t plumbs the depths of childhood and the lack of protection children face before the law.

About Katixa Agirre

Katixa Agirre (Vitoria, 1981) has a PhD in Audiovisual Communication and lectures at Universidad del País Vasco. She previously published the short story collections Sua falta zaigu and Habitat, and is the author of numerous children’s books: Paularen seigarren atzamarra, Ez naiz sirena bat, eta zer?, and Patzikuren problemak. She was also a columnist for Diario de Noticias de Álava, Deia, Aizu!, and Argia. Her most recent novel is De nuevo centauro (Centaur Again).

About Chad W. Post

Chad W. Post is the publisher of Open Letter Books, a press at the University of Rochester dedicated to publishing contemporary literature from around the world. He is also the editorial director of Dalkey Archive Press, the author of The Three Percent Problem: Rants and Responses on Publishing, Translation, and the Future of Reading.