Alexander Grass Humanities Institute

Happy publication day to our SECOND “AGHI in Translation” text! 🙌

Happy publication to THE INVISIBLE YEARS, an extraordinary novel by Rodrigo Hasbún, translated by and published in collaboration with the Alexander Grass Humanities Institute at Johns Hopkins ( ).

“A heady exploration of memory and friendship—and the places where both can fray.” —Kirkus Reviews

Andrea and Julián haven’t seen one another in twenty-one years—not since that tragic, fateful night their senior year of high school that marked their group of friends forever. A shocking phone call brings the two together again in Houston, where they begin to unravel the truth of that year, picking open long scabbed-over wounds from their upper-class adolescence in 1990s Bolivia and the scandal that ripped them apart.

A writer unhappy in his career and his marriage, Julián has been novelizing the past for his next book, trying to make meaning out of the events that changed the course of their lives forever. “I’d thought that writing about that time would free me, relieve the burden of the invisible years,” he writes, “but often it seems that it’s done the reverse.” Juxtaposing the naïve invincibility of adolescence with the grasping uncertainties of adulthood, THE INVISIBLE YEARS deftly weaves a coming-of-age tale that leaves the reader hanging on every word, even as they know how the cards fall in the end.

AGHI Faculty Fellowship Call for Applications! -

AGHI Faculty Fellowship Call for Applications!   We are now accepting applications for the next round of Faculty Fellows! The AGHI Faculty Fellowship aims to foster interdisciplinary dialogue, inspire creative collaborations, and forge communal bonds.   The core of the Fellowship is built around biweekly Friday lunches: convivial gatherings ce...

This Week in the Humanities! (Updated) -

This Week in the Humanities! (Updated) This event has been postponed to April 13th @ 6:30 pm at the Bird in Hand Coffee & Books. Laura Vasilyeva will be in conversation with Shane Butler about her new book, Opera and the Built Environment. Register here!