Carmen Aguirre
Carmen Aguirre is one of Canada\u2019s most acclaimed authors. Her plays, several of which draw on her experience as a political refugee from \u2014 and resistance fighter against \u2014 the Chilean dictatorship of the \u201970s and \u201980s, have been produced all over North America. In a post-pandemic world, she will resume touring her latest, \u201cBroken Tailbone,\u201d a piece with live DJ in which Carmen herself reveals the cultural, political and very personal importance of Latinx dance halls and music by literally leading the audience through salsa lessons.\nHer first memoir, \u201cSomething Fierce: Memoirs of a Revolutionary Daughter,\u201d became a #1 bestseller in Canada, won Canada Reads in 2012 and has been translated into several languages. Four years later her book \u201cMexican Hooker #1 and My Other Roles Since the Revolution\u201d was named a best book of 2016 by the National Post and CBC and was likewise a bestseller.\nCarmen is also an accomplished, award-winning actor, having appeared on stages throughout Canada and with several film and television credits to her name. The founder of the Latino Theatre Group in 1994 and more recently a co-founder of the Canadian Latinx Theatre Artist Coalition, she is now a Core Artist at Vancouver\u2019s Electric Company Theatre.\n\xa0\nIn this interview with Pier Carlo Talenti, Carmen muses about how her experiences with danger \u2014 as a resistance fighter, a refugee, a Latina and an artist \u2014 have informed the way she leads.