Jewish Latin American Literature: Ilan Stavans

Introducing Ilan Stavans

We are singling out Ilan Stavans by giving him a page to himself because he is probably the world's most prolific writer on the topic of this guide and drawing users attention to him will be one of the quickest ways for them to arrive at relevant materials on Jewish Latin American writing and culture.

Ilan Stavans (born Ilan Stavchansky, 1961) is an American writer and academic. He writes and speaks on American, Hispanic, and Jewish cultures. He is the author of Quixote (2015) and a contributor to the Norton Anthology of Latino Literature (2010). He was the host of the syndicated PBS show Conversations with Ilan Stavans, which ran from 2001 to 2006.

Ilan Stavans was born in Mexico in 1961 to a middle-class Jewish family; his father's ancestors had immigrated from the Russian Pale of Settlement. His parents were born in Mexico City. His father, Abraham Stavans, was a Mexican telenovela actor. His mother, Ofelia Stavans, taught theater.

After living in Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East, Stavans immigrated to the United States in 1985, and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1994. He earned a master's degree from the Jewish Theological Seminary and a PhD from Columbia University.

Since 1993 he has been on the faculty at Amherst College, where he is the Lewis-Sebring Professor of Humanities and Latin American and Latino Culture. He is on the editorial board of the literary magazine The Common. He has taught at various other institutions, including Columbia University.

Read the rest of this Wikipedia article

Another Biography from Jewish Writers of Latin America: A Dictionary

Picture Source

Ilan Stavans  on "What Makes Jewish Literature 'Jewish'"?

Ilan Stavans on Jews in Latin America