I'm Not Here to Give a Speech

Available in English for the first time in the U.S., a collection of the speeches of Nobel Prize-winning author Gabriel García Márquez.

Throughout his life, Gabriel García Márquez spoke publicly with the same passion and energy that marked his writing. Now the wisdom and compassion of these performances are available in English for the first time. I'm Not Here to Give a Speech records key events throughout the author's life, from a farewell to his classmates delivered when he was only seventeen to his Nobel Prize acceptance speech. Written across a lifetime, these speeches chart the growth of a genius: each is a snapshot offering insights into the beliefs and ideas of a world- renowned storyteller. Preserving García Márquez's unmistakeable voice for future generations, I'm Not Here to Give a Speech is a must-have for anyone who ever fell in love with Macondo or cherished a battered copy of Love in the Time of Cholera.

The Academy of Duty, Zipaquirá, Colombia, November 17, 1944

How I Began to Write, Caracas, Venezuela, May 3, 1970

Another, Different Homeland, Mexico City, October 22, 1982

The Solitude of Latin America, Stockholm, Sweden, December 8, 1982, Ceremony awarding the Nobel Prize in Literature

A Toast to Poetry, Stockholm, Sweden, December 10, 1982

Words for a New Millennium, Havana, Cuba, November 29, 1985

The Cataclysm of Damocles, Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo, Mexico, August 6, 1986

An Indestructible Idea, Havana, Cuba, December 4, 1986

Preface to a New Millennium, Caracas, Venezuela, March 4, 1990

I’m Not Here, Havana, Cuba, December 8, 1992

In Honour of Belisario Betancur on the Occasion of His Seventieth Birthday, Santafé de Bogotá, Colombia, February 18, 1993

My Friend Mutis, Santafé de Bogotá, Colombia, August 25, 1993

The Argentine who Endeared Himself to Everybody, Palace of Fine Arts, Mexico City, February 12, 1994

Latin America Exists, Contadora, Panama, March 28, 1995

A Different Nature in a World Different from Ours, Santafé de Bogotá, Colombia, April 12, 1996

Journalism: The Best Job in the World, Los Angeles, United States, October 7, 1996

A Bottle in the Ocean for the God of Words, Zacatecas, Mexico, April 7, 1997

Dreams for the Twenty-first Century, Paris, France, March 8, 1999

The Beloved Though Distant Homeland, Medellín, Colombia, May 18, 2003

A Soul Open to be Filled with Messages in Spanish, Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, March 26, 2007