Conferencia sobre la lluvia
Juan Villoro

THEATER | 2014 | 61 pages

Conferencia sobre la lluvia deals with a theatrical situation by nature: public speaking. A lecturer loses his notes and his nervousness leads him to say unexpected things. The topic of the speech is the relationship between rain and love poems. In the vortex of improvisation, the protagonist talks about himself but does not abandon his original purpose; the poets who have changed the climate with their verses are at the top of his mind. Two forms of discourse are fascinatingly mixed: the lecture and the confession.

Starring a librarian, this monologue written by Juan Villoro is a deep and often ironic reflection on the life of books and the emotions they provoke. A library is a collection of loves, rejections, suspicions, and nostalgia, both because of what its volumes say but also because of the way they have been read. Conferencia sobre la lluvia has a final surprise in store: the recipient of the talk. If a book depends on the reader, a lecture depends on the audience. The voice makes sense if someone hears it. Mysteriously, it also defines the listener. To listen is to be interpreted. A lecturer speaks on stage. He has lost his papers and his words rush. Meanwhile, a stealthy presence listens to him with the dismay caused by the falling rain.

RIGHTS: spanish ALMADÍA | italian TITIVILLUS

BY JUAN VILLORO:

No soy un robot
NONFICTION, 2024
La figura del mundo
FICTION, 2023
La tierra de la gran promesa
FICTION, 2021
El vértigo horizontal
FICTION, 2019
Llamadas de Amsterdam
FICTION, 2018
¿Hay vida en la tierra?
FICTION, 2014
Balón dividido
NONFICTION, 2014
Conferencia sobre la lluvia
THEATER, 2014
Arrecife
FICTION, 2012
El libro salvaje
CHILDREN’S, 2008
Los culpables
SHORT STORIES, 2008
Dios es redondo
NONFICTION, 2006
El testigo
FICTION, 2004
El disparo de Argón
FICTION, 1991