NMH Welcomes Writer Karla Cornejo Villavicencio

NMH's visiting writers program continued on March 26, when the school welcomed Ecuadorian-American writer Karla Cornejo Villavicencio to campus for a moderated discussion and Q&A session in the Chiles Theater.

"Karla Cornejo Villavicencio's books remind us that there is a yearning that is core to human experience," said NMH English teacher and poet M.K. Brake, the organizer of this year's writers series. "That fact is undeniable when we read her work. Through that fact, we come to see that no label of nation or ethnicity can make our differences greater than our similarities."

In a wide-ranging conversation, the Harvard graduate and acclaimed author of "Catalina" and "The Undocumented Americans" — which was shortlisted for the National Book Award — spoke to students about growing up as an undocumented immigrant in New York City, her evolution as a writer and public figure, and the power of literature to shed light on the humanity behind the headlines.

"I didn't have a relationship with my own undocumentedness until I began speaking publicly about it," Cornejo Villavicencio said. "Growing up, I knew I was working class, and I felt a lot of pride in that. Being undocumented, that it would have any kind of impact on the way I felt about myself, didn't even occur to me until I was asked about it."

Despite that, she said that the perceptions and prejudices of American society toward undocumented people have a subconscious effect on the way they are perceived as individuals with their own lives and dreams.

"The issue, at the end of the day, is paperwork: paperwork that changes year to year based on laws that change month to month," she said. "But there's a sense of illegality being something that you are; when people say 'illegal immigrant' or 'illegals,' they're saying that the very essence of you is fraudulent and aggressive and dangerous."

Cornejo Villavicencio, who also spoke at NMH in 2023, detailed her early interests in music journalism and how her career trajectory changed dramatically in 2010 when she anonymously wrote an essay, "I'm an Illegal Immigrant at Harvard," that quickly gained the attention of the publishing world.

In writing her 2020 book "The Undocumented Americans" — a blend of memoir and journalism recounting her own experiences as an undocumented immigrant and DACA recipient alongside the stories of others from around the country — she described the pains she took to protect people's privacy and gain their trust. "I am a citizen now, but when I reported for that book, I was on DACA, so I made sure that I had my lawyer's name memorized," she said. She avoided using physical descriptions or real names and destroyed her notes afterward so they couldn't be used against her sources.

The mental and emotional toll of that book led Cornejo Villavicencio to change gears for "Catalina," in which she found solace in the freedom fiction allows. "'The Undocumented Americans' was journalism and so different standards apply," she said. "In 'Catalina,' I'm trying to tell a story and give my audience a vibe, a perspective, an experience. The story is loosely autobiographical, but I wanted there to be a push and pull with the reader in a way that is fun for both of us."

Despite that newfound freedom, Cornejo Villavicencio is still coming to terms with the implications of being a successful, high-profile Latina writer. "In 'The Undocumented Americans,' I write a lot about not wanting to be a poster child, but the situation has changed so much that now I find myself needing to be a poster child, as much as I dislike it, because I think it's important for people and young kids to see that someone from my background was able to end up where I am now," she said.

Cornejo Villavicencio feels most at ease when her craft allows her to step outside of the identities thrust upon her and redefine them in her own terms.

"On the outside, I exist as an object in the world: as this political being, an immigrant, a minority writer," she said. "But when I'm writing, I have to shed all of that in order to spend some time alone with the page. Creation requires optimism, and I have found a lot of things that give me hope."

The discussion ended with students asking about her writing style, the people who helped her along her journey, and ways to support the immigrant community. "You would really be surprised by how meaningful it is to have a pleasant interaction with someone [as an immigrant]," she said. "Just those daily encounters as neighbors, being friendly and warm, go a long way."

Cornejo Villavicencio is the latest in a series of writers from across genres to speak with students this year. The program will expand in the fall with the launch of the Joseph Conrad Visiting Writers Series, made possible by an endowed fund created by Andy Barnard '73.

"Every human being is an amalgam of their lived experiences. That means that we all have a story to tell, and we are defined by these stories," Brake said. "Representation matters because it is only through hearing the stories of others that we see the complexity and beauty of our species. I really believe that Karla's work is some of the best work to show us this."

—Max Hunt