ARGENTINE WRITER MEMPO GIARDINELLI, U.VA. VISITING PROFESSOR, WILL
READ AND DISCUSS HIS WORK APRIL 23

	CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., April 8 -- Mempo Giardinelli, one of
Argentina's most celebrated fiction writers and journalists and a
visiting professor of Spanish at the University of Virginia this
semester, will read from his work and talk about writing at 8 p.m.
Wednesday, April 23.  His presentation, in Spanish and open to the
public, will be in the Garden Room of the Colonnade Hotel (West
Range).  He has titled his talk "Experiencias de un escritor en
cautiverio universitario" ("experiences of a writer trapped in a
university"). 
	Giardinelli's books include "La revolucion en bicicleta"
(1980), "Luna caliente" (1983), which won the National Novel Prize in
Mexico and will be published in English as "Sultry Moon"; "Santo
Oficio de la memoria" (1991), winner of the prestigious International
Romulo Gallegos Prize for Literature; and "Imposible equilibrio"
(1995), to be published in English as "The Dance of the Hippos." His
most recent collection of short stories is "Castigo de Dios" (1993),
to be published in English as "God's Punishment."
	Mexican novelist Carlos Fuentes has said of Giardinelli that
"his works are as human and moving as they are important in these
times of hatred and xenophobia."
	Giardinelli's novels have been translated into a dozen
languages and his journalism, including interviews with such political
figures as Fidel Castro and Salvador Allende, has won him respect and
recognition throughout Argentina. Last year he created and hosted a TV
series there about the myths Argentines have about themselves. 
	At U.Va. he is teaching two popular courses: an undergraduate
course on film and literature in Latin America and a graduate course
on the novel of the 1990s.
	Giardinelli lived in exile in Mexico during the dictatorship
of the military junta in Argentina from 1976 to 1985. He served as
founding editor and director of the magazine Puro Cuento from 1986 to
1992. He has taught and lectured at numerous Argentine and European
universities as well as Wellesley College, the University of
Louisville and the University of Kentucky. He previously served as
visiting professor in U.Va.'s Department of Spanish, Italian and
Portuguese in 1988.
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April 7, 1997
	For additional information, contact the U.Va. Spanish
department at (804) 924-7159.  Television reporters should call our TV
News Office at (804) 924-7550.