In a small conference room in Grinter Hall, UF students, professors and other guests gather to discuss this week's reading. Undergraduate students and tenured professors alike bounce ideas off of each other, dissecting themes and perspectives with a mix of curiosity and personal insight.
Last Spring, Luis Felipe Lomeli, a professor at UF’s Center for Latin American Studies, envisioned a space for students to explore their heritage, engage with diverse authors and share their own stories.
The Meet the Author book club grew in popularity from its humble beginnings with fewer than 10 attendees at its first meeting. More than 100 students spread over six sessions attended meetings last semester both in person and virtually, Lomeli said. The virtual meeting option through Zoom has drawn in students attending universities across the United States and even from countries like Mexico, Peru and Colombia.
The book club allows members to explore literature at their own pace — free from the pressures of grades or formal academic evaluations.
Students can immerse themselves in the narratives of various Latin American authors and explore diverse heritages. Lomeli emphasized the importance of keeping the book club a casual and enjoyable space, which allows students to appreciate the literature without feeling overwhelmed by its complexity.
“I try to pick up books that can be read, not super duper hard books,” Lomeli said. “You're going to read it because the story is a good story.”
Last Spring, the club read novels like Mario Martz’s “The Youth Cannot Return Home,” and Alejandra Costamagna’s “Leaving Earth is Impossible.”
Students meet and interact with each book’s author through virtual meetings or in-person visits.
Lomeli says these encounters give students a deeper insight into the writing process and make the literature come alive in a more personal way.
Daniela Lizarazo, a 26-year-old graduate student, attended most of the book club meetings last Spring and was eager to return for the new semester. For her, the chance to speak with the authors she reads is one of the most exciting aspects of the club.
“That’s why I’m here again,” Lizarazo said. “I feel interested in how you can connect with the authors, their experience writing and also their stories — how they create this story.”
Lizarazo added that the club is a valuable resource for students from a variety of disciplines, providing not just cultural insight but also a chance to practice their Spanish.
“I’ve seen a lot of different careers, Latin American studies, political science, engineers. People that are studying linguistics, people that are studying literature, medicine,” she said.
This Fall, the club’s first session featured Mexican author Federico Vite, writer of “Tropical Zeitgeist,” a collection of short stories. Lomeli says Vite’s book “tackles the question if there’s such a thing as a ‘tropical mindset’ of violence and exuberance.”
“It’s for someone who lives in the United States, for someone who looks at Latin America with a different perspective,” Vite said.
The book club receives financial support from various university departments and external organizations. A majority of funding comes from the Center for Latin American Studies, which pays honorariums, and the Spanish and Portuguese departments.
Despite the club’s growth, Lomeli wants to maintain the intimate and open atmosphere that makes the club so special.
“If you have many, many people, then it’s super difficult to have a conversation,” Lomeli said. “Maybe we will have to find a different place because we are not going to fit into that room.”
Meetings take place in Grinter Hall room 376. The club meets again Sept. 19 to discuss Maria Ospina’s “Azares del Cuerpo.”
Contact Vera Lucia Pappaterra at vpappaterra@alligator.org. Follow her on X @veralupap.
