Author Patricia Engel
Patricia Engel
The novelist of the in-between: not fully at home in the country you left, not fully claimed by the one you arrived in.
I met Patricia Engel many years ago through close friends finishing their studies at NYU, and even then I knew she was destined for great things.
We had some fun times in that era, and one of my favorite parts of keeping an archive this long is watching how people's journeys unfold. I am excited today to talk about her book Vida.
Patricia writes about identity, family, and the consequences of living between countries, with much of her work rooted in Latin American diasporic experience. What moves me most is where her protagonists live: an in-between space, not fully at home in their country of origin, not fully accepted in their adopted one.
This conversation is from our archive, revisited now (2026) that the world has finally caught up with her.
Leila
"My parents raised me to view all of life as a work of art, and they continue to be my greatest inspirations."Patricia Engel
Greatest inspirations and influences?
I come from a very creative family where daydreaming was encouraged and artistic expression was part of our daily life. This definitely shaped the way I think of art: that it's valuable, transformative, and can reveal our deepest truths. My parents raised me to view all of life as a work of art and they continue to be my greatest inspirations. My work is also heavily influenced by film and music, and I've found creative heroes in Freddie Mercury, Keith Haring, Luc Besson, and Anton Corbijn.
Tell us about Vida.
Vida follows a Colombian-American girl from the age of fourteen to about thirty as she tries to reconcile her bicultural identity through her relationships with her family, friends, lovers, and society, forming her personal philosophies, deciding what she will accept and reject as her cultural inheritance, and understanding her own legacy as a child of exile.
The challenges of what you do?
It's a daily struggle to sustain the solitude required to go inward and create when life often has another agenda, along with saying no to social invitations in order to stay home and write, and the thousands of written pages that get thrown away just to arrive at a few good ones. Writing is my greatest pleasure but it's also an act of faith and patience.
Favorite novels and authors?
I am a devoted fan of Albert Camus, Marguerite Duras, and Romain Gary. I also have a habit of reading the same books over and over. On top of the repeat list:
- Innocent Eréndira · Gabriel García Márquez
- Giovanni's Room · James Baldwin
- A Secret · Philippe Grimbert
- Hideous Kinky · Esther Freud
- Rules of the Wild · Francesca Marciano
- Martin Eden · Jack London
How did growing up around New York shape the person you are today, and your work?
I grew up in New Jersey, moved to the city at 18 to attend NYU, then moved to Paris, and returned to New York for a decade before leaving again for Miami, where I live now. My closest friends are still in New York and I consider it home, but I also think you need to leave home in order to understand who you are, what you really desire from life, and what you are capable of.
Favorite spots in New York and Miami?
In New York my friends and I can usually be found at La Esquina, Piadina, Resto Leon, Via Quadronno, or Libertador. In Miami: Ceviche 105 for the best ceviche and chaufa outside of Peru, the Coconut Grove Farmers Market, San Pocho for great Colombian food, Garcia's for seafood, The Standard, and the roof at The Webster.
My favorite spot of all, though, is the beach.
What do you have planned next?
I'm working on a novel that's set in Paris.
Favorite websites and blogs?
I'm disciplined about keeping my internet time to a minimum, but when I am online I always check out NinuNina, BBC News, and I like digging up old Depeche Mode videos on YouTube.
Vida
The debut that announced her: linked stories following Sabina, a daughter of Colombian exile, through the long work of deciding which inheritances to keep and which to refuse. A finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award and winner of Colombia's Premio Biblioteca de Narrativa Colombiana, the first book by a woman to take that prize.
Infinite Country
A Colombian family divided by borders and paperwork for decades. We meet Mauro and Elena as they fall in love in Bogotá, become parents, and arrive in the United States planning only to work and return home before their visas expire. Circumstance has other plans, and the family is split between two countries, two languages, and two versions of itself.
What makes it essential is how real it is. At a moment when immigrants are so often demonized in our media and our politics, Engel gives us people instead of talking points: their gains, their losses, their contradictions. The book does not ask for your pity. It earns your empathy, which is a much harder and much more lasting thing.
And yes, we noticed. When we asked Patricia her favorite websites all those years ago, she said she always checks NinuNina. The feeling, clearly, was mutual. ✶
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About Antakly Projects
Antakly Projects has been in conversation with artists and creatives from around the world since 2003.
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