The Santiago Center launched in March the book “No Huiré de la Lluvia” (“I will not Flee from the Rain”) which it commissioned from the renowned Chilean novelist Carla Guelfenbein.
The book launch was held at the municipal theater of Maipú, one of the largest municipalities in the country. It was attended by the Mayor of Maipú, Tomás Vodanovic, along with municipal authorities, members of the Maipú writer’s club and other borough residents, the Santiago Center team and the two guests of honor, Guelfenbein and fellow writer, Carmen Gloria López.
The Santiago Center originally commissioned Guelfenbein to travel to Columbia University in New York. The goal was for her to get to know the school, visit its emblematic sites and unexplored corners, and talk with those who study, teach or live in the surrounding area, and, based on that experience, write a series of stories.
It was that experience that gave rise to “No Huiré de la Lluvia,” a novel about the difficult relationship between a mother and a daughter where the former, a renowned theater actress who has developed her career far from Chile and her family, disappears without a trace in New York City.
During the activity held at the Maipú municipal theater, López and Guelfenbein had an open conversation regarding the latter’s experience in New York and how it moved her to write the book, the creative process in writing, and recommendations for inspiration.
To close the ceremony, Vodanovic thanked López and Guelfenbein for their participation and insight as well as the Santiago Center for helping to develop the activity in Maipú and for the 30 books that the Center donated to the borough’s libraries. He underlined the importance of making time for creative processes, be that reading, writing or other forms of art.
