THE INVISIBLE YEARS Book Launch: A Conversation with Translator Lily Meyer

Bird in Hand is thrilled to host this public conversation and reading event, featuring Lily Meyer, translator of Invisible Years by Rodrigo Hasbún, now out from Deep Vellum publishing!

Professors Gisela Heffes and Marcelo Nogueira will join Meyer in conversation in this special evening linking the Alexander Grass Humanities Institute at Johns Hopkins University and Deep Vellum publishing.

Telling the story of a surprise reunion of two friends separated by tragedy in their teenage years, Invisible Years deftly weaves a coming-of-age tale that leaves the reader hanging on every word, even as they know how the cards fall in the end.

“AGHI in Translation” is a partnership between the Alexander Grass Humanities Institute (AGHI) at Johns Hopkins University and Deep Vellum publishing. Established in 2025, the program fosters global literary dialogue at the local level by supporting the production, publication, and promotion of one major work of international literary translation each year.

Order INVISIBLE YEARS here!

Lily Meyer is an acclaimed novelist, translator, and literary critic based in Washington, D.C. who works as a staff writer at The Atlantic.

Gisela Heffes is Professor of Latin American Literature and Culture at Johns Hopkins, and also a novelist, ecocritic, and public intellectual with a particular focus on literature, media, and the environment.

Marcelo Nogueira is Assistant Professor of Spanish and Portuguese at Johns Hopkins, where he focuses on modern and contemporary Latin American poetry, popular music, sonic and visual cultures.