Chloe Aridjis (born 1971) is a Mexican and American novelist and writer. Her novel ''Book of Clouds'' (2009) was published in eight countries, and won the Prix du Premier Roman Étranger. Her second novel, ''Asunder'' was published in 2013 to unanimous acclaim. Her third novel, ''Sea Monsters'' (2019), was awarded the

PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction The PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction is awarded annually by the PEN/Faulkner Foundation to the authors of the year's best works of fiction by living Americans, Green Card holders or permanent residents. The winner receives US$15,000 and each of ...

in 2020. She is the eldest daughter of Mexican poet and diplomat

Homero Aridjis Homero Aridjis (born April 6, 1940) is a Mexican poetry, poet, novelist, environmental activist, journalism, journalist, and former ambassador and ex-president of PEN International. Family and early life Aridjis was born in Contepec, Michoacán, ...

and American Betty F. de Aridjis, an environmental activist and translator. She is the sister of film maker Eva Aridjis. She has a doctorate in nineteenth-century French poetry and magic from the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

Biography

Born in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, Chloe Aridjis grew up in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

and the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, where her father served as Mexico's ambassador. Aridjis studied comparative literature at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

and wrote a thesis on "Night and the Poetic Self" in

Charles Baudelaire Charles Pierre Baudelaire (, ; ; 9 April 1821 – 31 August 1867) was a French poet, essayist, translator and art critic. His poems are described as exhibiting mastery of rhythm and rhyme, containing an exoticism inherited from the Romantics ...

's ''

Les Fleurs du mal ''Les Fleurs du mal'' (; ) is a volume of French poetry by Charles Baudelaire. ''Les Fleurs du mal'' includes nearly all Baudelaire's poetry, written from 1840 until his death in August 1867. First published in 1857, it was important in the ...

'' at the

, under the supervision of

Malcolm Bowie Malcolm McNaughtan Bowie Fellow of the British Academy, FBA (; 5 May 1943 – 28 January 2007) was a British academic, and List of Masters of Christ's College, Cambridge, Master of Christ's College, Cambridge from 2002 to 2006. An acclaimed scho ...

before completing a doctorate on "the interface between high and popular art in nineteenth-century France with a special focus on the relationship between poetry, magic shows and literature of the fantastic". As a teenager she had a bilingual exposure to pop in Mexico City, listening to British bands while discovering their Mexican equivalents at a gay

goth Goth or Goths may refer to: * Goths, a Germanic people Arts and entertainment * Gothic rock or goth, a style of rock music * Goth subculture, developed by fans of gothic rock * ''Goth'' (2003 film), an American horror film * ''Goth'' (2008 f ...

club. She met great

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

s such as

Jorge Luis Borges Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo ( ; ; 24 August 1899 – 14 June 1986) was an Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator regarded as a key figure in Spanish literature, Spanish-language and international literatur ...

and

Ted Hughes Edward James Hughes (17 August 1930 – 28 October 1998) was an English poet, translator, and children's writer. Critics frequently rank him as one of the best poets of his generation and one of the twentieth century's greatest writers. He wa ...

at international poetry festivals her parents organised in the early 1980s. This had a lasting effect on Aridjis, who maintained a correspondence with several of them throughout her adolescence. Her favourite authors include

Nikolai Gogol Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol; ; (; () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, and playwright of Ukrainian origin. Gogol used the Grotesque#In literature, grotesque in his writings, for example, in his works "The Nose (Gogol short story), ...

Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish writer of novels, plays, short stories, and poems. Writing in both English and French, his literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal, and Tragicomedy, tra ...

Thomas Bernhard Nicolaas Thomas Bernhard (; 9 February 1931 – 12 February 1989) was an Austrian novelist, playwright, poet and polemicist who is considered one of the most important German-language authors of the postwar era. He explored themes of death, iso ...

Franz Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a novelist and writer from Prague who was Jewish, Austrian, and Czech and wrote in German. He is widely regarded as a major figure of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of Litera ...

Miguel de Cervantes Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra ( ; ; 29 September 1547 (assumed) – 22 April 1616 Old Style and New Style dates, NS) was a Spanish writer widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world's pre-eminent novelist ...

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic who is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales involving mystery and the macabre. He is widely re ...

Horacio Quiroga Horacio Silvestre Quiroga Forteza (31 December 1878 – 19 February 1937) was a Uruguayan playwright, poet, and short story writer. The jungle settings of his stories emphasized the conflict between humans and nature. His portrayals of mental ...

, Charles Baudelaire,

Gérard de Nerval Gérard de Nerval (; 22 May 1808 – 26 January 1855), the pen name of the French writer, poet, and translator Gérard Labrunie, was a French essayist, poet, translator, and travel writer. He was a major figure during the era of French romantici ...

Stéphane Mallarmé Stéphane Mallarmé ( , ; ; 18 March 1842 – 9 September 1898), pen name of Étienne Mallarmé, was a French poet and critic. He was a major French Symbolist poet, and his work anticipated and inspired several revolutionary artistic schools o ...

Arthur Rimbaud Jean Nicolas Arthur Rimbaud (, ; ; 20 October 1854 – 10 November 1891) was a French poet known for his transgressive and surreal themes and for his influence on modern literature and arts, prefiguring surrealism. Born in Charleville, he s ...

Walter Benjamin Walter Bendix Schönflies Benjamin ( ; ; 15 July 1892 – 26 September 1940) was a German-Jewish philosopher, cultural critic, media theorist, and essayist. An eclectic thinker who combined elements of German idealism, Jewish mysticism, Western M ...

, Robert Walser,

Gaston Bachelard Gaston Bachelard (; ; 27 June 1884 – 16 October 1962) was a French philosopher. He made contributions in the fields of poetics and the philosophy of science. To the latter, he introduced the concepts of ''epistemological obstacle'' and ''Epist ...

Comte de Lautréamont Comte de Lautréamont (; ) was the '' nom de plume'' of Isidore Lucien Ducasse (; 4 April 1846 – 24 November 1870), a French poet born in Uruguay. His only works, '' Les Chants de Maldoror'' and ''Poésies'', had a major influence on modern a ...

and

René Daumal René Daumal (; 16 March 1908 – 21 May 1944) was a French spiritual para-surrealist writer, critic and poet, best known for his posthumously published novel '' Mount Analogue'' (1952) as well as for being an early, outspoken practitioner of ...

. Her book of essays on ''Magic and the Literary Fantastique in Nineteenth-Century France'' was published in 2002. Her doctoral thesis was published in Spanish as ''Topografía de lo insólito: La magia y lo fantástico literario en la Francia del siglo XIX'' (Fondo de Cultura Económica, Mexico, 2005). She publishes in journals and newspapers in England,

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, among them essays for ''

Granta ''Granta'' is a literary magazine and publisher in the United Kingdom whose mission centres on its "belief in the power and urgency of the story, both in fiction and non-fiction, and the story's supreme ability to describe, illuminate and make ...

'' on insomnia and the psychological fallout of space travel on Soviet cosmonauts. Aridjis lived in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

for five years, and currently resides in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. She has been vegetarian since 1986. Her

debut novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to pu ...

''Book of Clouds'' was published in the US by

Grove Press Grove Press is an American publishing imprint that was founded in 1947. Imprints include: Black Cat, Evergreen, Venus Library, and Zebra. Barney Rosset purchased the company in 1951 and turned it into an alternative book press in the United S ...

in winter 2009, and by

Chatto and Windus Chatto & Windus is an imprint of Penguin Random House that was formerly an independent book publishing company founded in London in 1855 by John Camden Hotten. Following Hotten's death, the firm would reorganize under the names of his business ...

in the UK in July 2009, in the Netherlands, and by ''

Mercure de France The () was originally a French gazette and literary magazine first published in the 17th century, but after several incarnations has evolved as a publisher, and is now part of the Éditions Gallimard publishing group. The gazette was publis ...

'' in September 2009. It was published in Mexico, Spain,

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

and

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

in 2011 and as a graphic novel in French in early 2012. In his review of ''Book of Clouds'' for ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', Daniel Hahn described it as an "exceptional debut novel". In ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'',

Wendy Lesser Wendy Lesser (born March 20, 1952) is an American critic, writer, and editor based in Berkeley, California."Wendy Lesser." ''Contemporary Authors Online''. Detroit: Gale, 2014. Retrieved via ''Biography in Context'' database, 2017-06-10. Version ...

described it as "a stunningly accurate portrait of Berlin". Regina Marler in the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' drew attention to Aridjis's "magic and poetry", and described "an unsettling atmosphere unlike anything in recent fiction." In November 2009, ''Book of Clouds'' won the Prix du Premier Roman Étranger in France. Her second novel, ''Asunder'', was published in May 2013 by Chatto and Windus in

, and in September by

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Company ( ; HMH) is an American publisher of textbooks, instructional technology materials, assessments, and reference works. The company is based in the Financial District, Boston, Boston Financial District. It was fo ...

in New York City. The novel concerns two museum guards, one at the

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of more than 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current di ...

in London, for whom life and art begin to overtake each other in surreal and unsettling ways. It involves a trip to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, and carefully contained worlds torn apart. The ''

Times Literary Supplement ''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp. History The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to ''The Times'' but became a separate publication ...

'' wrote of it: "Chloe Aridjis is crafting a poetics of the strange ... This is deft and shimmering fiction"; ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' described the novel as "Strange, extravagant, darkly absorbing ... thrills with energy." Her third novel, ''Sea Monsters'', was published in February 2019. ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'' referred to it as "a hypnotic narrative of disenchantment", while ''The Atlantic'' called it "a strange symbolist novel that would make Mallarmé proud" and wrote: "Like a magician, Aridjis is obsessed with elusiveness; like a symbolist, she far prefers imagination and metaphor to plain sight." ''Sea Monsters'' won the

in 2020. Aridjis was awarded a

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

in 2014. In 2020, she was awarded the Eccles Centre & Hay Festival Writers Award for her forthcoming novel entitled ''Reports from the Land of the Bats''. She was co-curator of the

Leonora Carrington Mary Leonora Carrington (6 April 191725 May 2011) was a British-born, naturalised Mexican Surrealist painter and novelist. She lived most of her adult life in Mexico City and was one of the last surviving participants in the Surrealist movem ...

exhibition at

Tate Liverpool Tate Liverpool is an art gallery in Liverpool, Merseyside, England, and part of Tate, along with Tate St Ives, Cornwall, Tate Britain, London, and Tate Modern, London. The gallery was an initiative of the Merseyside Development Corporatio ...

that opened in March 2015 and she occasionally writes for ''frieze'' and other art journals. In 2018 she starred in Josh Appignanesi's arthouse film "Female Human Animal." In February 2016, her English translation of her father's book ''The Child Poet'' was published. Aridjis is a member of Writers Rebel, a group of writers that focuses on the climate emergency. She is particularly interested in issues involving species extinction, and animal welfare in general.

Works

*''Magic and the Literary Fantastique in Nineteenth-Century France''. University of Oxford, 2002. *''Topografía de lo insólito''. Fondo de Cultura Económica, México, 2005. *''Book of Clouds''. London: Chatto and Windus, 2009. * * * ''Sea Monsters''. Chatto & Windus, 2019. * ''Dialogue with a Somnambulist: Stories, Essays & a Portrait Gallery''. House Sparrow Press, 2021. .

References

External links

BBC Sleevenotes radio interview about Chloe Aridjis's musical taste.Chloe Aridjis interview with Zett Aguado
in ''Nighttrain Magazine''.
Frieze Magazine , Archive , Ideal Syllabus: Chloe AridjisInterview with Chloe Aridjis about 'Book of Clouds'
in Exberliner Magazine]
Biography from the Berlin International Literature Festival
*
Review of ''Book of Clouds''
''Los Angeles Times''

''The New York Times''

''

''
"Portrait of my Father"
''Granta''.
Chloe Aridjis reads "Ghost Stations"interview with chloe aridjis on Mexican TV
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aridjis, Chloe 21st-century American essayists 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American women writers 1971 births Alumni of the University of Oxford American expatriates in England American people of Greek descent American women essayists American women novelists American writers of Mexican descent Harvard University alumni Living people Mexican expatriates in England Mexican people of Greek descent Mexican women novelists Novelists from New York (state) Writers from Mexico City Writers from New York City