The New Yorker Radio Hour

Karla Cornejo Villavicencio on “Catalina,” the Tale of an Undocumented Student at Harvard


Listen Later

Catalina Ituralde is the protagonist of the novel that bears her name, “Catalina.” In the summer before her senior year of college, she’s working as an intern at a prestigious literary magazine, and come fall she’ll be back at Harvard to plot her future. But, contrary to a life of comfort that this scenario suggests, Catalina’s situation is complicated and uncertain: she’s an undocumented immigrant, raised in Queens by her grandparents, and after graduation she might not have the privilege of choosing what job she takes. “Catalina” is the second book by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio, who first gained attention with the essay “I’m an Illegal Immigrant at Harvard,” published anonymously in the Daily Beast; her first book, “The Undocumented Americans,” was a finalist for the National Book Award. Though Villavicencio has since become an American citizen, “There’s this Latin American paranoia that comes from my parents, [who] grew up under a dictatorship,” she tells David Remnick. “I’ve heard all of these stories . . . and then there’s also being undocumented here, where the idea that I could disappear at any time, my parents could disappear at any time – I don’t think that I’m necessarily capable of feeling that kind of permanence.”

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

The New Yorker Radio HourBy WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

  • 4.2
  • 4.2
  • 4.2
  • 4.2
  • 4.2

4.2

5,418 ratings


More shows like The New Yorker Radio Hour

View all
On the Media by WNYC Studios

On the Media

9,067 Listeners

The Book Review by The New York Times

The Book Review

3,875 Listeners

On Point | Podcast by WBUR

On Point | Podcast

3,881 Listeners

This American Life by This American Life

This American Life

90,431 Listeners

Fresh Air by NPR

Fresh Air

37,904 Listeners

The New Yorker: Fiction by WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

The New Yorker: Fiction

3,328 Listeners

The Political Scene | The New Yorker by WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

The Political Scene | The New Yorker

3,858 Listeners

The New Yorker: Poetry by WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

The New Yorker: Poetry

515 Listeners

The Gray Area with Sean Illing by Vox

The Gray Area with Sean Illing

10,651 Listeners

The New Yorker: The Writer's Voice - New Fiction from The New Yorker by WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

The New Yorker: The Writer's Voice - New Fiction from The New Yorker

2,070 Listeners

In The Dark by The New Yorker

In The Dark

27,242 Listeners

The Daily by The New York Times

The Daily

112,857 Listeners

Radio Atlantic by The Atlantic

Radio Atlantic

2,182 Listeners

Interesting Times with Ross Douthat by New York Times Opinion

Interesting Times with Ross Douthat

7,594 Listeners

The Ezra Klein Show by New York Times Opinion

The Ezra Klein Show

14,859 Listeners

The Interview by The New York Times

The Interview

1,419 Listeners

Critics at Large | The New Yorker by The New Yorker

Critics at Large | The New Yorker

559 Listeners