Jorge Volpi reads from "Ashes of Time"

In his new novel, Mexican writer and cultural attaché Jorge Volpi focuses on how women from different continents deal with the consequences of 1989: the hopes and fears of an era.

Presented by Dieter Ingenschay, Humboldt University Berlin.

German text will be read by Jeanette Spassova, Volksbühne.

Jorge Volpi, Author, Mexico, studied law and literature at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Mexico. Volpi received his doctorate in Spanish Philology at the Universidad de Salamanca, Spain. From 1992-94 he was secretary to the Mexican Secretary General Diego Valadés. Since that time, he has been mainly working as a freelance author. From 2001 to 2004 he was cultural attaché at the Mexican Embassy in Paris; and from 2007, has been director of the cultural channel of the UNAM, Canal 22. Volpi is a founding member of "crack", a literary circle of authors, advocating a departure from magical realism. Currently, he teaches literature at the Universidad de las Américas (UDLA) in Puebla/Mexico. His literary works include, "The Exterminating Angel" (1996) and "In Search of Klingsor" (1999). For "In Search of Klingsor," he has won the Spanish literary prize Premio Biblioteca Breve, the Italian Cervantes Prize, and the French Deux-Océans-Grinzane-Cavour-Prize.

Dieter Ingenschay, Professor of Romance Studies, Berlin. PhD 1979. In 1987, Ingenschay continued his post-doctoral work at the University of Bochum. From 1990 to 1995 he was Professor of Romance Philology at the University of Munich. In 1995, he moved to the Humboldt University in Berlin and became Chair of the Romance Literature Department. His work focuses on post-modern cultural theory and contemporary romance literature. He is the general director of the Spanish Program for Cultural Cooperation with Germany ("Pro Spain). His most recent publications include: "Europ America" (ed. with O. Ette, G. Maihold, 2008), Argentina’s (post-) crisis: Symbols and Myths "( KultuRRevolution Nr. 51, 2006)," Hemispheric constructions of the Americas (ed. with P. Birle, M. Braig, O. Ette, 2006).

Jeanette Spassova, Actress, Berlin, was born in Plovdiv/Bulgaria. She studied at the Theater School in Sofia and has lived in Berlin since 1989. Since 1993, she has been involved with the Berlin Volksbühne, playing mainly in productions directed by Frank Castorf, including Zuckmayer’s "The Devil’s General" as well as in Dostoyevsky's "Demons" and "Humiliated and Insulted" at the Vienna Festival in 2001 and the Berlin Theatertreffen 2002 . She played Elisabeth in Horváth's "Faith Hope and Charity” in Basle; and acted in "Macbeth" directed by Calixto Bieito at both the Munich Kammerspiele and Salzburger Festspiele 2001.