Cal State L.A. will host a free scholarly and literary forum for the discussion of the work of renowned Mexican writer Mariano Azuela and his novel on the Mexican Revolution on Friday and Saturday, May 15-16.

With the publication of his novel, Los de abajo (The Underdogs, 1915), Azuela initiated the narrative cycle of the Mexican Revolution constituted by later novels and autobiographies of Nellie Campobello, Martín Luis Guzmán and José Vasconcelos, including avant-garde novels published in the 1950s and 1960s by Juan Rulfo and Carlos Fuentes.

The Conference on Mariano Azuela and the Novel of the Mexican Revolution includes eight keynote and featured speakers representing Belgium, France, Germany, Holland, Mexico, the United Kingdom, and the United States. They will address topics on film, theatre, photography, the Chicano novel of the Revolution by Michael Nava, German-Mexican relations during the Revolution, and Azuela’s literary criticism.

On May 15, Mexican actress Alejandra Flores and a cast of 12 actors will present a scene from the theatre-adaptation of Los de abajo. The performance will take place from 10:40 to 11 a.m. in the Music Hall on campus. Flores is also the founder and director of Los Angeles Theatre Academy.