“I’m a man full of scars. I’m adventurous, I seek, I inquire, I investigate. My path is full of scars,” Élmer adds.
Élmer Mendoza learned to read at the age of nine, which was somewhat late, but coming from a very poor family with limited resources, it was an odyssey to achieve.
“My mother took me to get my first book, it was called Alma Infantil. I already knew the alphabet, and I learned to use it as a tool,” Mendoza shares, one of the most important writers in Mexican and global literature.
Élmer Mendoza is known as one of the leading exponents of narcoliterature, a genre of noir fiction that deals with the theme of drug trafficking, particularly in his homeland, Culiacán, Sinaloa. He is the creator of one of literature’s most iconic characters, Edgar ‘El Zurdo’ Mendieta, a detective from Culiacán who works for the state police, a man in love, stubborn, a whisky lover, and someone who lives life on the edge.
Mendoza will be appearing today, Sunday, at the LéaLA festival on the main stage at noon in a talk titled “Apocalypse Now, Narrating Violence.”
As a child, his first poem was dedicated to Benito Juárez. He never had time to be concerned with love affairs or romance.
“I was worried about other things. I come from a very poor, hard-working family. I didn’t have time for that. If someone came to me with those concerns, I would nonchalantly say, ‘Well, go find someone else,'” he says.
His connection with books was predestined. From that first time his mother took him for his first book, his encounters with them continued.
“On another occasion, I went to play basketball in another neighborhood because there were no courts where I lived. While playing, I went to retrieve the ball that had bounced out. When I picked it up, I saw a mirror, and behind it, many books. After the game, I went back. I found a neighbor who worked there, and I asked her what that place was, and she told me it was a library. I asked if I could borrow books, and she explained the process, but since she knew me, she lent me one… on philosophy! I opened it, but I couldn’t get past the first page. The next day, I went back and told her I couldn’t read it. Then she lent me another book that changed my life: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne. It was like an epiphany. I read it in one go. And I asked myself, ‘Why can I read this?'” he shares.
From then on, everything came like an avalanche. He read comics, novels, everything. On another occasion, he went to the university, even though he wasn’t yet enrolled because he hadn’t met the requirements. There, he met an older man in the library and asked if he could borrow a book, but was told it was impossible without being a student.
“The great problem of humanity is being oneself. The world of fiction has solutions. Literature transforms,” Élmer says.
However, seeing the young Élmer’s eagerness to read, the man began lending him books. That’s when he developed the habit of going to the university almost daily, just to enjoy the pleasure of reading.
“One of the books that impacted me the most and that I now recognize as very important in my development as a writer was The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. The way he constructs characters, the timing of the novel, the development of the story—everything is perfect,” he says, excited.
His mother wasn’t thrilled with his passion.
“Don’t waste your time,” she would say. “You use too much electricity at night.”
She challenged him. When he announced his interest in studying literature, she said, “Yo pensé que se te había quitado lo pendejo.”
However, Élmer acknowledges that he resembles her a lot.
“We are both very tenacious. We achieve and fight for what we want,” he says.
During his school years, his teachers noticed something different about him than the other students. He read perfectly, his comprehension level was impressive, and his analysis was outstanding. During that time, he wrote an essay about Pedro Páramo that amazed his teachers. “What are you doing here?” they would ask him. “Study literature.”
“I’m a man full of scars. I’m adventurous, I seek, I inquire, I investigate. My path is full of scars,” he adds.
Élmer is far from being the kind of writer who is set on a pedestal. For him, staying close to his community and promoting reading is vital.
“Reading is a family matter,” he says. “My daughters read because I read to them as children. It’s essential to foster that curiosity in our children. We can’t blame young people for not reading. If we don’t instill it in them, it won’t happen.”
This writer has spent years promoting reading among children and young people, creating reading circles, and he wants to revive that dream, that hunger for success… “because I’ve been a dreamer,” he says.
“Children can be natural readers. You just have to provide them with the right books. I have a group of former students who promote reading. They go to schools, read to the children, and it’s a success. I get invited to schools with kids, and when I start talking to them, within 15 minutes they’re all very excited, they approach me, they don’t want me to leave,” he says.
He recounts an occasion when they were taking books to a community and were stopped by a criminal group.
“Where are you going?” they were asked.
“We’re bringing books to the community,” they replied.
“Only Cokes and Sabritas are allowed here,” they were told.
Élmer laughs.
“But we weren’t afraid,” he says.
For Élmer, everything boils down to the love of knowledge.
“The great problem of humanity is being oneself. The world of fiction has solutions. Literature transforms,” he says.
When he was already an award-winning writer, he went to greet his mother. She welcomed him and said,
“They’ve told me who you are, what you’ve achieved,” and they embraced and cried together.
