How Julia Alvarez conceived the story for her novel "Afterlife"
Clip: 9/17/2024 | 1m 5sVideo has Closed Captions
"Afterlife" was Julia Alvarez's way of "[giving] voice to that landscape of aging."
Julia Alvarez released "Afterlife" in 2020, about a woman dealing with her husband's unexpected death and meeting an undocumented teenager. The book was dedicated to her oldest sister, Maury, who died in 2015, and was Alvarez's way of "[giving] voice to that landscape of aging."
Support for American Masters is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, AARP, Rosalind P. Walter Foundation, Judith and Burton Resnick, Blanche and Hayward Cirker Charitable Lead Annuity Trust, Koo...
How Julia Alvarez conceived the story for her novel "Afterlife"
Clip: 9/17/2024 | 1m 5sVideo has Closed Captions
Julia Alvarez released "Afterlife" in 2020, about a woman dealing with her husband's unexpected death and meeting an undocumented teenager. The book was dedicated to her oldest sister, Maury, who died in 2015, and was Alvarez's way of "[giving] voice to that landscape of aging."
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How do today’s masters create their art? Each episode an artist reveals how they brought their creative work to life. Hear from artists across disciplines, like actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt, singer-songwriter Jewel, author Min Jin Lee, and more on our podcast "American Masters: Creative Spark."Providing Support for PBS.org
Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship- [Narrator] Julia's next novel, the first she had written in 10 years, was dedicated to her sister.
(page rustling) - [Julia] When I was writing "Afterlife," I was reading every novel where there was an elder, especially an elder woman, to try to understand what that story is and to give voice to that landscape of aging.
You know, the same way that I felt like I wanted to give voice to the landscape of being Latina, of coming from another place.
What is that story of aging and of losses?
And how do you survive what you've lost and still go for the larger version of yourself?
(gentle music)
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Providing Support for PBS.org
Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship
Support for American Masters is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, AARP, Rosalind P. Walter Foundation, Judith and Burton Resnick, Blanche and Hayward Cirker Charitable Lead Annuity Trust, Koo...