Papyrus: A Conversation with Spanish writer Irene Vallejo

Spanish writer Irene Vallejo visits Georgetown University on the occasion of “Spain in DC | Cultural week” to talk about literature.

El infinito en un junco / Papyrus, by Irene Vallejo, is a book on the history of books. It is a journey through the life of this fascinating artifact that we invented so that words could travel in space and time. The story of its making, of all the kinds we have used over almost thirty centuries: books made out of the smoke, of stone, of mud, of reeds, of silk, of leather, of trees, and the last to arrive, of plastic and light.

The writer will offer a short reading of her work before a conversation about her career, books, and literature at Georgetown University. This conversation will be moderated by Jade Madrid, Latin American Studies and Iberian Languages Liaison and Reference Librarian.

About the writer

Irene Vallejo was born in Zaragoza in 1979, and she has been attracted to the Greco-Latin world since she was a child. She studied Classical Philology, and won the first National Award for Excellence in Academic Performance. In 2007, she completed the European Doctorate from two universities, Zaragoza and Florence, with a thesis on the Greco-Latin literary canon.

Her first essay, focusing on the Latin poet Marcial, won the Society for Classical Studies Award for Best Research Paper. She writes for various media. Her articles have been compiled in the anthologies El pasado que te espera (2010), Alguien habló de nosotros (2017) and El futuro recordado (2020).

In 2011, she wrote her first novel, La luz sepultada. The second, El silbido del arquero, was released in 2015. She also writes short stories and children’s books. In 2019, she published Papyrus. The invention of books in the ancient world, which won the National Essay Award, among other recognitions.