Literature has the power to change everything. That's precisely why Cristina Rivera Garza writes. The Mexican author has shared that when she reads and writes, she achieves a transformative power that no other activity grants her. "My way of approaching books and literature is that: I'm there because I want to be changed. If I wanted to remain the same, I probably wouldn't be writing and reading."
Today, Garza is an internationally acclaimed writer and one of the favorites to take the 2025 Nobel Literature Prize.
Born on October 1st in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Cristina studied Anthropology at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. She later moved to Houston, Texas, where she acquired a Master's degree and a PHD in Latin American history. Academia was always an important part of Garza's life, with her teaching in countries like Mexico, the US, and France. She's currently a professor of creative writing at the University of Houston.
Garza had her first foray into writing as a poet. Her book "Apuntes" was acclaimed and recognized, ranked in first place at the contest Poesia Punto de Partida, in 1984. She then published short stories and a novel, including "La Muerte me da," and "Terrestre."
"If I wanted to remain the same, I surely wouldn't be writing or reading."
Despite amassing recognition throughout her career, Cristina's road towards the Nobel Prize began in 2024, when she won the Pulitzer Prize for "Liliana's Invincible Summer." The book is autobiographical and explores the biggest tragedy of Garza's life: the murder of her younger sister. "I couldn't simply leave her as a little note in a book because, essentially, she is the central story of my life," said Garza.
"Liliana's Invincible Summer" is an international success, providing a voice to all of the victims and the family of the victims that, like Cristina, have had to say goodbye to family members due to violent deaths, with these remaining unresolved for years. The book will be adapted as a play in Madrid, starring Cecilia Suarez.
"We're them in the past, we're them in the future, and we're others at the same time. We're others and we're the same, always. Women in search of justice. Women who are exhausted and together."
With a sense of prose and a poetry that's empathic and a critical and studied eye, Garza is one of the most acclaimed international authors working today. If she were to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, she'd become the first Mexican woman to do so, and the second Mexican to win after Octavio Paz.