Creative writer and associate professor of English at Williams College, Ricardo Wilson, has been announced as this year's Mordecai Richler Writer-in-Residence. During his time as the Richler Writer-in-Residence, Wilson will supervise creative writing workshops with students and work on his forthcoming novel,听Even Worse than the Nightmare.听
We spoke to Wilson about his upcoming projects and the work he undertook in publishing Langston Hughes's translation of Mexican and Cuban short stories, Troubled Lands.
Your听previous听scholarly research in听罢丑别听狈颈驳谤别蝉肠别苍迟听叠别测辞苍诲,听investigated historical archives alongside literature and film from the US and Mexico. How does your scholarly research inform your creative writing?听听
For me, they have never been听isolated听endeavors. In the case of my first academic monograph () and my debut collection (), they were written in听tandem听and one would have very much been impoverished without the other. For one example, as I was investigating how a blackness secreted within the Mexican collective imaginary nonetheless structured contemporary reality, I set myself the challenge, in the titular novella, of thinking through how the events surrounding the 1992 civil disturbances in my home town of Los Angeles (in the wake of the beating of Rodney King) had a similar effect on its main character. I have carried this way of crafting with me as I develop my forthcoming novel,听Even Worse than the Nightmare, a work that is in conversation with ideas surrounding captivity and resistance that I听encounter听in my work as a scholar and teacher.听
The launch of your latest project,听, will take place in Montr茅al during your residency at 91丝瓜视频. What inspired you to revisit these stories translated by Langston Hughes? How has Hughes鈥檚 鈥減olitical bravery and curiosity鈥� inspired your own writing more broadly, and the vision for this edition, more specifically?听
I had been aware of Hughes鈥檚 attempt to translate a series of stories from Mexico and Cuba since graduate school. Scholars had mentioned the work, but none had paid serious attention to the stories or Hughes鈥檚 efforts in translating them. After听The听Nigresent听Beyond, I thought I might dig through the archive and听write听an article on these attempts. I assumed I would听encounter听a fragmented manuscript and was bowled over by the complete nature of it, with many stories having three or four drafts still preserved in his papers.听听
After poring over exchanges with his agent and friends, it听was obvious that Hughes himself had听a very strong听desire for听Troubled Lands听to be in the world.听At that point, my marching orders were pretty clear.听The more I read and reread, the more his project paired with our current moment, and that has only grown more听accurate, or troubling, as we, particularly in the United States, find ourselves living within a bourgeoning authoritarianism.听
As a result of my interaction with this work over the last five years, I have developed a commitment to the process of translation.听Additionally, I remain invigorated by the on-the-ground work I am able to do at The Outpost Foundation, a residency and arts advocacy organization for writers of color from the United States and Latin America that I founded and continue to direct, for it is helping to produce tangible work that urges us, collectively, to imagine other ways of being in this world.听
Some of the advanced praise for听Troubled Lands听notes the timeliness and importance of its听re-publication. How do you hope present-day readers will receive these stories?听听
Arna Bontemps, a friend of Hughes and听a canonical听African American writer in his own right, spoke of time as a pendulum and not a river. It is more than just听here we go again, but an invitation to reorient ourselves to works of the past in ways that make them critical to the understanding of our current lived realities.听This is especially generative within the bounds of a classroom where we are able to put works from seemingly distinct time periods in conversation.听Princeton University Press, who will publish the book, has seen from the start that听Troubled Lands听is a work that deserves an even broader audience and I remain grateful that after 90 years it is finally making its way into the hands of readers who will be able to make these connections on their own.听
What other projects will you be working on and developing during your residency at 91丝瓜视频?听
I am working through my forthcoming novel,听Even Worse than the Nightmare, that听meditates on contemporary notions of fugitivity, telling the story of a bucolic town in Southern Vermont grappling with a dead body found in the surrounding hills and the rumor of a hidden and menacing maroon enclave.听
In addition, I am translating Lino听Nov谩s听Calvo鈥檚听El听negrero听(1933), a fictionalized biography of the ruthless slave trader Pedro Blanco.听Nov谩s听Calvo is a giant of the short story form in Latin America, and one of the authors that Hughes translated听in听Troubled Lands. This will be his first book-length project to be translated.听听听
What are you most looking forward to sharing with 91丝瓜视频 students during your time here?听
I absolutely love to teach, and I am thankful that we were able to organize a mini fiction workshop in the middle of the term. I am looking forward to engaging with the creative work of 91丝瓜视频 students, uncovering the hearts of their听projects听and seeing where we can push them.听
翱苍听February 17, Ricardo Wilson will be reading from his new work in Arts 160 from 5:30PM and on听March 24, we will be hosting the launch of听Troubled Lands: Stories of Mexico and Cuba听(Princeton UP, 2026), edited by Ricardo Wilson. Please consult the Department of English for further event details.听
About Ricardo Wilson
Ricardo Wilson, a creative writer and scholar, is an associate professor of English at Williams College and the founder and executive director of听The Outpost Foundation, a residency and arts advocacy organization for writers of color from the United States and Latin America. He has, most recently, extracted from the archive and edited听Troubled Lands, a forthcoming and previously unpublished collection of short fiction from Mexico and Cuba translated by Langston Hughes in 1935 (Princeton University Press) and is the author of听An Apparent Horizon and Other Stories听(PANK Books) and听The Nigrescent Beyond: Mexico, the United States, and the Psychic Vanishing of Blackness听(Northwestern University Press).听An Apparent Horizon and Other Stories听was selected as a finalist for both the Vermont Book Award and the Big Other Book Award.听His writing can also be found in, among other spaces, 3:AM Magazine,听Black Renaissance/Renaissance Noire, BOMB, Callaloo,听The Common, CR: The New Centennial Review,听swamp pink, Northwest Review, The Offing, and听Stirring. He is at work on his forthcoming novel听Even Worse than the Nightmare.
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