The Lit & Luz Festival...
began in 2012, unofficially, with a series of live, bilingual events following the release of MAKE Magazine issue #13, “Intercambio/Exchange,” a bilingual edition featuring new work from Latin American writers and created in response to the dismal amount of translated literature available in the US.
In 2014, through a grant from the MacArthur Foundation’s International Connections Fund, the Lit & Luz Festival was formed to support the creation of new art through international collaboration and make space for essential dialogues between residents of Mexico and the United States. It has since produced yearly events in Mexico City and Chicago, with writers and artists from Chicago, Mexico, and beyond.
MAKE Literary Production’s 10th annual Lit & Luz Festival of Language, Literature, and Art, themed “TEN” is a hybrid festival presented in venues throughout Chicago and online. Throughout the week’s dozen programs, we participants will address the the impact of current social and political events on their practices and the arts, in general. Once again, the festival features its signature program, the Live Magazine Show, featuring new collaborations and presentations from this year’s Collaboration Cohort at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, October 21st.
At its heart, Lit & Luz is a cultural exchange between writers and visual artists from Mexico and United States. With the festival taking place first in Chicago, then Mexico City, it is a conversation between two countries. We choose to focus on collaborations in order to foster meaningful and lasting professional relationships and cross-cultural friendships. Past participants include luminaries such as Cristina Rivera Garza, Valeria Luiselli, José Olivarez, Jac Jemc, and Erika L. Sánchez.
Art and language are key to understanding culture and community. With events such as Lit & Luz, we hope to strengthen the relationship between the two countries, and in particular, to increase the distribution of literature and art between Mexico and the US.
Support our free programming with your donation.
2023-24 Team
Lit & Luz is produced by MAKE Literary Productions, NFP
Creative Director and Website Design: MAKE & Co.
Managing Director: Sarah Dodson
Assistant Managing Director, Chicago: Mario Gastelum
Assistant Managing Director, Mexico City: David Ruano
Partnerships & Sponsorships Coordinator: Angelica Davila
Literary Arts Director / Lit & Luz Book Club Founder and Director: Miguel Jiménez
Founding Artistic Director: Daniel Borzutzky
Visual Arts Director, Mexico City: Esteban King
Visual Arts Director, Chicago: Zespo Velazquez
Artistic Associates, Collaboration Cohort: Joel Craig and Kamilah Foreman
Collaboration Cohort Coordinator: Amanda Goldblatt
Live Magazine Show Managing Director, Chicago: Madeline Nesbitt
Exhibition Curatorial Team: Esteban King, Nicky Ni, and Caleigh Stephens
Writing Workshops Coordinator: Antonio Díaz Oliva
Media Relations Coordinator: Alisha Gorder
Assitant Media Coordinator: Pedro Pablo Marín
Social Media Coordinator: Sarug Sarano
Translation and Editorial: Ana Lucía Cornejo, Ryan Greene, and Claudia di Ibieta
Programming Associates: Jessica Anne, Héctor García Chávez, and Kathleen Rooney
Advisory Council: Susy Bielak, Gibran Villalobos, and Kirsten Leenaars
Development: John W. Bateman
MAKE Literary Productions Board of Directors:
Sarah Dodson, Executive Director, MAKE Literary Productions
Natalie Edwards, Director of Major and Planned Giving, The Newberry
Kamilah Foreman, Director of Publications, Dia: Foundation
Héctor García Chávez, President, Ph.D., Director, Latin American and Latinx Studies Program, Loyola University Chicago
Laurie Sartain, Vice President, Debt Asset Management, PCCP, LLC
Mike Zapata, Author
