Early life
Ignacio Padilla was born in Mexico City in 1968. From an early age, Padilla notes that he was drawn to writing, and as he grew older, he became immersed in the literary works of James Joyce, Fyodor Dostoevsky, and Robert Louis Stevenson, whose works often centered on the theme of the human identity.
Education
Padilla received his undergraduate studies at Universidad Iberoamericana where he was awarded a Bachelor of Arts in Communication Studies. He later received a Master's degree in English Literature from the University of Edinburgh and a Doctor of Philosophy in Hispanic-American literature from the University of Salamanca.
Early career
Upon completing his higher education studies, Padilla returned to Mexico. During the early 1990s, Padilla worked as an editorial director for Playboy magazine's Latin American publication while also writing his column, "El baúl de los cadáveres" in Mexico's literary magazine "Sábado."
Padilla received the "Alfonso Reyes" Mexican literary award in 1989 for his work "Subterráneos" and in 1994 received the "Juan de la Cabada" literary award for his children's story, "Las tormentas del mar ebotellado," the "Juan Rulfo" Mexican Literary Award for a first novel, "La catedral de los ahogados," and the "Malcolm Lowry" Mexican Literary Award for his literary essay, "El dorado esquivo: espejismo mexicano de Paul Bowles." That same year Padilla published, "El año de los gatos amurallados," which was awarded the Mexican literary award Kalpa for Science Fiction.
The Crack Generation
In 1996, Padilla united with longtime friends and fellow writers Jorge Volpi, Eloy Urroz, Pedro Ángel Palou García, and Ricardo Chávez Castañeda, who collectively presented a proposal based on their literary criticisms and personal opinions of Mexican and Latin American literature. This literary critique, a reaction to the Latin American Boom, became known as the Crack Manifesto and was presented as a means for Mexican authors to find their own voice and write beyond Magical Realism. In addition to breaking with the Latin American tradition of Magical Realism, the Crack Movement called for a return to the complexity of plot and style as found in the works of Latin American authors such as Julio Cortázar and Jorge Luis Borges. That same year, Sandro Cohen published Nueva Imagen, a collection of stories by the authors of the Crack Movement.
In 1999 Padilla received the Mexican literary award "José Revueltas" for his literary essay "Los funerales del alcaraván: historia apócrifa del realismo mágico," as well as the Mexican literary award "Gilberto Owen" for his short story publication "Las antípodas y el siglo." In 2000, Padilla received the "Premio Primavera de Novela" for his novel, "Amphitryon."
21st Century
In 2001, Padilla was chosen as Cultural Attaché for the Mexican embassy of Great Britain, a post he held until 2003. During this time, he republished "Crónicas africanas" which he had previously published in Mexican literary magazine "Nostromo."
In 2007, Mexican President Felipe Calderón Hinojosa named Ignacio Padilla as director of the national library of Mexico "José Vasconcelos". However, the structural integrity of the building in which the library was housed was unfit to safely house the national library and on March 2007, the decision was made to temporarily close the national library. Padilla released a statement that repairs to the building were absolutely necessary and that he would not open the doors until the building was safe from structural damages. On August 15 of 2007, the Mexican newspaper Milenio Diario published an article stating that Padilla had stepped down as director of the national library.
- "Funeral Among the Oyameles" (essay)
- "The Sad Fate of the Graduate Rocamadour Muskaria" (story)
