Specialization in the Creation of Literary Characters

Penélope Córdova is a Mexican narrator and essayist who creates all her texts, whether fiction or essays, by building on one or various characters rather than a fact or an anecdote. In her experience, the characters themselves make a story relatable or not.

In 2015, she won the Amparo Dávila Fine Arts Story Prize for her book Panteón Familiar (Family Pantheon). She is also the author of the book of essays Locus, variaciones sobre ciudades, cartografía y la torre de Babel and her work has been published in story as well as essay anthologies such as Arbitraria, muestrario de poesía y ensayo, Nuevas instrucciones para vivir en México, and Formas de escribir y ser/no ser madre. Additionally, she is cofounder of the creative companionship agency Somos Texto.

Alberto Chimal is an established writer—he has been in this beautiful profession for 25 years now—specializing in narrative texts. He writes stories for different kinds of media, but his focus is on novels and short stories. What he loves most about writing is the human contact that can be generated through stories.

He has published more than forty books, including novels and collections of short stories, and is currently writing the screenplay for his second feature film.

Cristina López Barrio studied law at the Complutense University of Madrid and worked as a lawyer and intellectual property expert for 13 years. In 2009, after winning the Villa Pozuelo de Alarcón Young Adult Novel Award for her book El hombre que se mareaba con la rotación de la Tierra (Everest 2009) and publishing her novel La casa de los amores imposibles (Plaza&Janés, 2010), she decided to fully devote herself to writing.

Since then, La casa de los amores imposibles has been translated into 15 languages and published in 22 countries including the United States, Italy, Germany, Brazil, Argentina, Sweden, Israel, and Mexico. Cristina has also published a collection of stories titled El reloj del mundo (Flash from Penguin Random House, 2012) and several other novels including El cielo en un infierno cabe (Plaza&Janés 2013), Tierra de brumas (Plaza&Janés 2015), and Rómpete, corazón (Planeta 2019). In October 2017, she was chosen as a finalist for the Premio Planeta award for her novel Niebla en Tánger.

Idalia Sautto is a writer and historian. Her passion for creating elaborate universes full of wonder has led her to publish several children's books and write articles, essays, and chronicles for a wide variety of audiences.

Her first published book, Checo (2010), emerged from a series of interviews she did with her grandfather; it's her first children's book and her first publication as a historian. With a career devoted to writing and editing books, it was only a matter of time before she decided to launch a personal editorial project. In 2016, she founded her own publishing company Pitzilein Books, which focuses on editing and publishing books from artists, illustrators, and writers who walk the line between literary genres like chronicle and fiction, philosophy and literature, and graphic works and children's literature.

Cecilia Magaña is a talented writer, editor and teacher who has left a deep mark on the world of narrative. With an outstanding career that includes national short story awards, publications in renowned magazines such as Luvina and Argonauta, and the creation of short story collections that explore fascinating themes such as everyday madness, Cecilia has proven to be a constantly evolving creative force.

Her work as co-founder of Atypical Editorial has led her to advise and edit various authors, guiding them in the creation of their own short story collections. In addition, she has shared her knowledge as a teacher in the degree in Digital Filmmaking, where she has advised projects for anthology series and short film trilogies.

Cecilia's passion for reading and analysis has led her to delve into the narrative of books and collections by admired authors, as well as to understand how stories are constructed in audiovisual media. Her focus on finding unity and meaning in stories, as well as her ability to explore personal curiosities and obsessions, make Cecilia an exceptional guide for those seeking to bring their own story collections to life.