In powerful, formally inventive essays, The Visible Unseen disrupts the purported cultural divide between arts and science. As both a chemist and an award-winning author, Andrea Chapela zeros in on the literary metaphors buried in the facts and figures of her scientific observations. Through questioning scientific conundrums that lie beyond the limits of human perception, the essays construct a startling new perspective from which to examine ourselves and the ways we create meaning.

Join author Andrea Chapela in a virtual conversation with translator Kelsi Vanada and artist Fabiola Menchelli hosted by Third Place Books. You can order The Visible Unseen now using the code BUYDIRECT for 15% off.

When: Monday, October 24 at 9pm ET / 8pm CT / 6pm PT
Where: Third Place Books (Lake Forest Park, WA) via Zoom

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Andrea Chapela has a degree in Chemistry from the UNAM (National Autonomous University of Mexico) and an MFA in Spanish Creative Writing from the University of Iowa. She is the recipient of multiple awards, including the 2019 José Luis Martínez National Prize for Grados de miopía. The full English translation of the book is forthcoming as The Visible Unseen with Restless Books in October 2022. Her stories have been published in the journals Tierra Adentro and Este País, as well as in various anthologies. In English translation, her publications include poems in The Brooklyn Rail InTranslation and an essay in Tupelo Quarterly. She was named one of Granta’s Best Young Spanish-Language Novelists in 2021 and lives in Mexico City.

ABOUT THE TRANSLATOR

Kelsi Vanada is the author of the poetry chapbook Rare Earth, and her book-length translations include The Visible Unseen by Andrea Chapela and Damascus, Atlantis: Selected Poems by Marie Silkeberg, which was longlisted for the 2022 PEN Award for Poetry in Translation. Kelsi holds MFAs in Poetry (Iowa Writers’ Workshop, 2016) and Literary Translation (The University of Iowa, 2017) and works as the Program Manager of the American Literary Translators Association (ALTA) in Tucson, Arizona. She teaches occasional classes on literary translation and is an active reviewer of poetry in translation.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Fabiola Menchelli has a degree in Computer-Mediated Arts from Victoria University and an MFA degree in Photography and Visual Arts from Massachusetts College of Art and Design. She has been invited to distinguished artist residencies such as Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Casa Wabi, Casa Nano and Unlisted Projects. She has received multiple awards, including the Fulbright - García Robles Fellowship, the Acquisition Prize of the XVI Mexican Photography Biennial of the Centro de la Imagen, and is currently part of the National System of Art Creators grant from FONCA. She currently lives in México City.