"#Writer, #critic, #cultural #commentator, #polyglot, and multilingual #translator #IlanStavans is very clear about his #Jewish heritage: His grandparents had been #Shtetl-dwellers in Eastern #Europe, in #Poland and the #Ukraine, and moved to #Mexico between 1919 and 1929 to flee #poverty, #antisemitism, and #pogroms. #Stavans was born in #MexicoCity in 1961 to an #Ashkenazi family.
This certitude differentiates Stavans from many of the characters in #ElIluminado, a #graphicnovel in #English and #Spanglish that Stavans co-#wrote with #illustrator and writer #SteveSheinkin. In the #book, some of the characters are crypto-#Jews and are not entirely sure of, but suspect or deny, their Jewish heritage.
El Iluminado was first published in 2012 by Basic #Books/Hachette. The University of #NewMexico Press republished it in March , because “the story is about #SantaFe and New Mexico, and is of this community,” says #UNM Press Director Stephen Hull."
https://www.santafenewmexican.com/pasatiempo/a-history-based-graphic-novel-tells-the-story-of-crypto-jews-in-new-mexico/article_8309195a-2f64-4d8a-af56-dd83b4e27529.html