(from left) Hans Jürgen Balmes, Junot Díaz and Jasmin Tabatabai

The United States and the New Power of Spanish
March 10, 2009. Dominican-American author and 2008 Pulitzer Prize winner Junot Díaz presented his Pulitzer Prize winning novel “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao” at the Instituto Cervantes in Frankfurt. A captivated audience listened as Díaz and German actress Jasmin Tabatabai read from the English and German editions of the novel, which explores the life of a Dominican-American family, from its history in the Dominican Republic under dictator Rafael Trujillo to present-day New Jersey. In between readings Díaz discussed the importance of language with moderator Hans Jürgen Balmes of the Fischer Verlag. Later Díaz answered questions from the audience on subjects ranging from the title of his novel to his daily writing routine. | For video please click here