Mexican writer Mónica Lavín debuts the novel La ausencia and the audiobook Capítulo 1 simultaneously, two works delving into her creative origins and fear of blockage. Both projects will be presented at the Guadalajara International Book Fair 2025. In an interview, Lavín reflects on memory, writing, and her passion for storytelling.
Mónica Lavín, at a pivotal moment in her career, launches two interconnected projects: the novel La ausencia, published by Editorial Planeta, and the audiobook Capítulo 1, produced by Everand. They emerged in sync, almost mysteriously, as Lavín faced her fear of losing creative drive.
The novel La ausencia centers on a writer over 60 who cannot connect with a new story. "More than the absence of ideas, it is the absence of a connection to a powerful story. My terror is that one day that passion that makes you accept the uncertain path of writing will not be there," Lavín explains. The work plays with the mechanics of writing, alternating two narrative timelines and imagined dialogues with authors like Eudora Welty, Carson McCullers, and Katherine Anne Porter, early influences on Lavín. "I wanted to give myself the freedom to travel in time, to have conversations with writers who existed. I went to see Carson McCullers's house in Georgia," she recounts.
Meanwhile, Capítulo 1 is an original audiobook where Lavín narrates the start of her vocation, from 16-year-old notebooks to her first book, Cuentos de desencuentro y otros, published in 1986 in the Letras Nuevas collection. She recalls coincidences like her daughter's birth, the 1985 earthquake, and the book's release. "Without that book, I might not be here. It gave me a public voice and a commitment to the chosen path," she states.
The recording took place in Madrid, with editing in Mexico and collaboration from actress Irene Azuela, who portrays young Lavín. "The human voice has its own emotion of the moment. Artificial intelligence cannot do that," she emphasizes. Both will be presented at the FIL Guadalajara, starting November 29: La ausencia on December 1 at 17:30, and Capítulo 1 on December 3 at 17:00.
Lavín concludes that writing is a way to stay alive and not forget oneself. "Memory is not a faithful archive; it is a shifting territory," she says, underscoring imagination's role in the world.