Antolina
Ortiz
Moore
WRITER
“The only true way to be at peace was to believe in nothing, to open oneself to the void. To be like a voiceless shell that the sea pushes onto the sand, that the waves swallow.”
– Otumba, Antolina ORTIZ MOORE.
Citizen of the world.
Antolina describes herself as a citizen of the world. From early on, she travelled extensively experiencing diverse places and cultures that have enriched her, it’s difficult for her to consider herself as belonging to just one place… one culture… perhaps even one time.
Her philosophical education drives her to observe and admire the world in a unique way, sparking a curiosity that compels her to question the reasons behind everything. Her quest leads her to analyze not only her own existence but also that of humanity and the role we play in the world. Her focus has always been on fostering change—encouraging reflection and balance in her surroundings.
Through writing, Antolina finds a form of expression where she projects her reflections. Her style is simple yet profound, marked by vivid descriptions and an intricate handling of her characters’ emotions. This gives her works a natural flow that subtly draws readers into a process of self-reflection.
Works by Antolina Ortiz Moore
El DÍA QUE NO PARÓ DE LLOVER
The Day the Rain Never Stopped (Tusquets, 2025)
A novel set in Mexico City in 1951. Through an unrelenting storm and a series of tragic events, the city begins to collapse—both physically and morally. At the heart of a low-income tenement in the downtown area, its residents confront the rising water as loss, fear, and memory flood the streets.
With an atmosphere that evokes classic radio dramas and the rhythm of bolero music, the novel weaves a story about memory, the reconstruction of the past, and the complexity of human nature.
AZUL HUMO
Poniatowska Amory and Ventosa Arrufat Foundations Award, published by BUAP, 2024
Azul Humo explores, through the story of a teenager and a French postman, the little-known historical process of Japanese immigrants arriving in Mexico. Jacaranda trees and poetry intertwine with the powerful prose that captivates us.
LAS TORRES DE ARENA
The Sand Towers
Las torres de arena, Juan March Cencillo Foundation Award, published by Pre-Textos, 2023.
One September 11th, unborn voices arrived in dreams that would last her entire life. As the world crumbled around her, Amy jumped into a hole in the heart of the building. Her grandfather served a cup of tea. Lipstick faded on the porcelain. Ashes fell as the building started to burn.
SEDA ARAÑA
Spider’s Silk
Winner of the First National Short Novel Competition Paralelo 21 | Mexican Women Writers, 2019, with over 600 novels by Mexican women participating.
Shortlisted in the prestigious Rómulo Gallegos Literary Award, 2020 and the Nadal Prize, 2019.
OTUMBA
Awarded in 2010 with the José Eufemio Lora y Lora & Juan Carlos Onetti Prize.
Otumba is where Mexicans fought their last battle, it’s the place where limbo found its broken people and voices remain interwoven with the waves of time.. But in Otumba, life also persists—with all those voices of the dead interwoven with the waves of time.
TRES SILENCIOS
A Third Silence
Awarded in 2010 with the José Eufemio Lora y Lora & Juan Carlos Onetti Prize.
Marcela embraces her silences in a liquid atmosphere. The novel follows the course of her life: from a young woman to a mother, to a widow, to a wise woman.
BÚBU, EL GRANDE Y OTROS CUENTOS
Bubú, the Great and Other Stories
Stories for children and not-so-children.
¿QUIÉN SOY, QUIÉN SOY?
Who am I, who am I?
From a very simple text, the young reader will take a charming journey through a delightful list of animals, colors, and behaviors. Guided by extraordinary illustrations, this experience will captivate both children and adults alike.
A Journey Through Four Fascinating Anthologies
DE LA SIERRA MADRE AL UNIVERSO BOREAL
The Embassy of Mexico in Canada and Centro Liquidámbar present this anthology, in which Antolina Ortiz Moore contributes a short story alongside twelve other Mexican-Canadian authors. Their works explore identity, language, migration, and the cultural fusion between Mexico and Canada, reflecting memories, dreams, and resilience. This bilingual edition reaffirms their commitment to building cultural bridges, promoting Mexican culture, and supporting the creative expressions of the Mexican diaspora in Canada.
HISTORIAS DE MONTREAL
Stories of Montreal
A kaleidoscope of Hispanic-American literature in Canada, featuring Antolina Ortiz alongside twenty-five writers of Mexican, Colombian, Peruvian, Salvadoran, Bolivian, Brazilian, and Spanish origin residing in Canada. This collective work aims to present a fresh and unpretentious literary perspective on the second most populous city in Canada.
ESCRITORAS MEXICANAS
Mexican Women Writers
Antolina Ortiz wrote her story titled “I Don’t Charge, I Teach” for the second Anthology of Mexican Women Writers, which compiles the winning narratives from the Second National Short Story Competition organized by the Mexican Women Writers project.
LA VIOLENCIA MÁS ALLÁ DE LOS RIOS
Violence Beyond the Rivers
This work is a collection of stories by Mexican-Canadian authors, published by Editorial Bonilla in 2022.
La Violencia Más Allá De Los Ríos brings together deeply moving stories from Mexican authors living in Canada. These narratives delve into the complexity of structural violence that impacts both individuals and cultures. Through tales that shift between the ordinary and the extraordinary, the texts reveal a reality where exclusion, impunity, and injustice stand as open wounds in the collective memory.
From Word to Image.
Based on the books Otumba and Seda Araña by Antolina Ortiz Moore, artist Damián Siqueiros—founder and creative director of Terra Sapiens Collective, an artistic laboratory dedicated to researching and implementing socio-ecological sustainable art practices—developed a series of Impact Art photographs. This collaboration between Literature and Photography takes us from word to image.
Biography.
Antolina Ortiz Moore was born in Mexico City in 1971. From an early age, she showed an interest in writing, photography, and travel. She attended the Liceo Franco Mexicano and earned a degree in Philosophy from Universidad Iberoamericana, where she also taught.
Antolina lived for several years in Coatepec, Veracruz, where she founded Morfo Educación Libre and the Centro Ecológico y Cultural Liquidámbar A. C., two initiatives dedicated to promoting ecological and cultural awareness without barriers. She also coordinated the planting of more than 11,000 trees in a cloud forest region. She currently lives in Montreal with her family and devotes herself full-time to writing.
In 2010, her novels Tres silencios (Editorial Imaginarial) and Otumba (Editorial Mapalé, Canada) received the José Eufemio Lora y Lora & Juan Carlos Onetti International Prize, awarded in Peru.
Her novel Seda araña (Editorial Paralelo21 / Escritoras Mexicanas) won the Paralelo21 / Escritoras Mexicanas First Prize for a Short Novel in 2019, in a competition that received more than 600 entries. The novel was also a finalist for Spain’s Nadal Literary Prize in 2019 and Venezuela’s Rómulo Gallegos Prize in 2020.
In 2023, Las torres de arena received the Juan March Cencillo Foundation Prize in Spain. One year later, her novel Azul humo won the Ventosa-Arrufat and Elena Poniatowska Amor Foundation Ibero-American Novel Competition, after being selected from 702 novels submitted from 25 countries.
Discover the Centro Ecológico y Cultural Liquidámbar A. C., a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting ecological, cultural, and community projects.
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If you’d like to purchase any of the books that don’t have a direct online purchase link, please send us a message, and we’ll be happy to assist you.