Franco Alessandro Laguna Correa was born in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

and has the Mexican nationality. He is a writer, ethnographer, musician/composer, and college professor also known for his heteronyms "Dr. Crank," "Crank,", "Sardine", "f.l Crank," "Gaetano Fonseca" and "Mehmet Amazigh." He has been included by literary critics, in the so-called New Latino Boom, which is a literary movement that features 21st-century Latin American fiction authors writing in Spanish in the United States. He was awarded in 2012 the National Literary Prize of the

North American Academy of the Spanish Language The North American Academy of the Spanish Language
." ''North American Academy of the Spanish Language''. Retrieved on March 31, 2011.

(ANLE), an institution based in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. In 2013, he received the International Poetry Prize of the

Autonomous University of Aguascalientes , mottoeng = , established = 19 June 1973 , founder = C.P. Humberto Martínez de León , type = Public university , rector = Francisco Javier Avelar González ...

. In 2016, Laguna Correa was one of the recipients of The Fuerza Award, a social recognition for his intellectual activism in the Pittsburgh area granted by The City of

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

, the collective Café con Leche, and The Latin American Cultural Union (LACU). The ''Chicago Review of Books'' recommended his book ''Crush Me (a broken novel)'' for the 2017 National Poetry Month. His novel ''Wild North'' was included in the list of best Mexican fiction of 2017 selected by author

Antonio Ortuño Antonio Ortuño (Guadalajara, 1976) is a Mexican novelist and short story writer. Ortuño is the author of the novels ''El buscador de cabezas'' (2006) and ''Recursos humanos'' (2007), finalist of the Herralde Prize. He also published the short st ...

and published in the daily newspaper ''El Informador''. He has been invited to deliver talks about his research at various institutions, including

Emory University Emory University is a private research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1836 as "Emory College" by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory, Emory is the second-oldest private institution of ...

, the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, ...

Texas State University Texas State University is a public research university in San Marcos, Texas. Since its establishment in 1899, the university has grown to the second largest university in the Greater Austin metropolitan area and the fifth largest university ...

, and

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...

Education & Teaching

He graduated from the

Escuela Nacional Preparatoria The Escuela Nacional Preparatoria ( en, National Preparatory High School) (ENP), the oldest senior High School system in Mexico, belonging to the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), opened its doors on February 1, 1868. It was founded ...

in 2001 after being forced to interrupt his studies due to the 1999 UNAM strike. He began his university studies at The School of Philosophy and Letters and The School of Political and Social Sciences of the

National Autonomous University of Mexico The National Autonomous University of Mexico ( es, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM) is a public research university in Mexico. It is consistently ranked as one of the best universities in Latin America, where it's also the bigges ...

, which is often cited as the most prestigious university of the Spanish-speaking world. He completed his undergraduate education at

Portland State University Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 1946 as a post-secondary educational institution for World War II veterans. It evolved into a four-year college over the following two decades ...

, where he received a double BA in

Liberal Studies Liberal arts education (from Latin "free" and "art or principled practice") is the traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term '' art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically th ...

and

Literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

. In addition, he completed a

Master of Fine Arts A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts admini ...

at the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...

and two M.A. degrees, one in

Social Anthropology Social anthropology is the study of patterns of behaviour in human societies and cultures. It is the dominant constituent of anthropology throughout the United Kingdom and much of Europe, where it is distinguished from cultural anthropology. In t ...

and another in

Philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

, both at the

Autonomous University of Madrid The Autonomous University of Madrid ( es, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid; UAM), commonly known as simply la Autónoma, is a Spanish public university located in Madrid, Spain. The university was founded in 1968 alongside the Autonomous Universi ...

. He was the recipient in 2014 of the K. Leroy Irvis Fellowship at the

, and in 2016 he received a doctoral degree (Ph.D.) in Cultural and Literary Studies from the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

. Thereafter, he held researching and teaching appointments at

High Point University High Point University is a private university in High Point, North Carolina. It is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. The university was founded as High Point College in 1924, and it became High Point University in October 1991. HPU of ...

and the

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private university, private research university in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1864, it is the oldest independent private university in the Mountain States, Rocky Mountain Region of the United States. It is ...

Music & Sonic Endeavors

Over the course of the last three years, Franco Alessandro has devoted extensive time to the composition and performance of various forms of sonic and musical ensembles. Besides taking singing lessons both in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, he has taken his theoretical interests in sonic borderspaces to the realm of music creation. He has recorded a few symphonic pieces that feature only vocal acoustic renderings of his voices. Based on his personal interests and recorded pieces, Franco Alessandro has termed his music as "sonic realities" and his personal performative style as "Post-Modern Troubadour". Franco Alessandro is also the creator o
NUCLEAR ZOUND
(bandlab.com/nuclearzound).

Musical Compositions

ULTRA/SONIC (AI QUATTRI STAGIONI)REQUIEM FOR AN ODYSSEYALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS YOUALL THE LUMINOUS AETHER IS AL/READY IN US

Literary & Civic Awards

(2016) The Fuerza Award (Pittsburgh) (2013) International Poetry Prize of the Autonomous University of Aguascalientes (Aguascalientes) (2012) National Literary Prize of the North American Academy of the Spanish Language (New York City)

The Immigration Quartet

Wild North (novel) is the first piece of the series The Immigration Quartet. The second is the experimental and fragmented novella, which uses stylistic techniques from prose poetry, ''Crush Me/(broken novel)'' that Laguna Correa wrote in English and that in 2013 was awarded the International Poetry Prize of the

. In 2017 the independent publisher, based in Chicago, Radical Narratives released the book and that same year the ''Chicago Review of Books'' included ''Crush Me'' in their list of books to celebrate the National Poetry Month. The third book of the series is the noir novel of suspense ''Ortodoxa: contra-manual'', which was one of the finalists of the Equis Prize of Novel in 2015, subsequently in 2018 the publisher, based in Miami, Suburbano Ediciones published ''Ortodoxa''.Suburbano Ediciones: https://suburbanoediciones.com/ortodoxa/ The last book of the "Immigration Quartet" is the testimonial and semi-autobiographic novel of suspense, torture and psychological realism ''Acedia'', published in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

by Rayo Press in 2020.

Bibliography

;Novellas and novels *(2020) ''The Invisible Militia'', Radical Narratives, Chicago. (published with the heteronym "Dr. Crank"

*(2020) ''Acedia'', Rayo Press, California. (published with the heteronym "f.l. Crank"

*(2020) ''Diario supino'', Rayo Press, California. (published with the heteronym "f.l. Crank"

*(2017) ''Crush Me: Ría Brava (a broken novel)'', Radical Narratives, Chicago. (published with the heteronym "f.l. Crank"

*(2018) ''Ortodoxa (contra-manual)'', Suburbano Ediciones, Miami

*(2016) ''Wild North'', Rayo Press, Tamaulipas

;Short Stories *(2020) ''Historia de un hombre devastado por el siglo XX'', Rayo Press, California. (published with the heteronym "F. Laguna Correa"

*(2020) ''Memoria de una alarma contra incendios'', Rayo Press, California. (published with the heteronym "F. Laguna Correa"

*(2020) ''Cambio de piel'', Rayo Press, California. (published with the heteronym "F. Laguna Correa"

*(2020) ''Sentencia definitiva'', Rayo Press, California. (published with the heteronym "F. Laguna Correa"

*(2011) ''Crítica literaria y otros cuentos'', Editorial Paroxismo, Carolina del Norte/Ciudad de México

;Flash-fictions *(2012) ''Finales felices'', Academia Norteamericana de la Lengua Española, New York City

*(2020) ''Federratas (finales felices)'', Rayo Press, California. (published with the heteronym "F. Laguna Correa"

;Poetry *(2020) ''Requiem for The Unhappy'', Radical Narratives, Chicago. (published with the heteronym "f.l. Crank"

*(2020) ''Poesía Temprana (2005-2012)'', Miglior Fabbro Eds., Portugal (Entroncamento), Sicilia (Mazzara del Vallo), Valparaíso (Zacatecas, Mexico). (published with the heteronym "Gaetano Fonseca"

*(2020) ''Testament. (volume 1)'', Radical Narratives, Chicago. (published with the heteronym "Dr. Crank"

;Essays *(2020) ''Essays on Pop Culture, Sonic Modernity, The Anthropocene, and Artificial Intelligence'', Free Press, Manchester, UK. (published with the heteronym "F. Laguna Correa"

*(2020) ''La vida después del presente: La irrupción de la Inteligencia Artificial en la vida cotidiana'', Pensamiento Libre, Santiago de Chile, Buenos Aires. (published with the heteronym "F. Laguna Correa"

*(2020) ''Distorsiones y encubrimientos: Crítica al campo intelectual en México'', Pensamiento Libre, Santiago de Chile, Buenos Aires. (published with the heteronym "F. Laguna Correa"

*(2020) ''Fuera de México (Ensayos)'', Pensamiento Libre, Santiago de Chile, Buenos Aires. (published with the heteronym "F. Laguna Correa"

*(2020) ''El intelectual en su tiempo: Un acercamiento cognitivo al pensamiento político, histórico e intelectual de Lucas Alamán'', Pensamiento Libre, Santiago de Chile, Buenos Aires. (published with the heteronym "F. Laguna Correa"

*(2020) ''Esclavitud en Tabasco durante el Porfiriato'', Pensamiento Libre, Santiago de Chile, Buenos Aires. (published with the heteronym "F. Laguna Correa"

*(2020) ''Utopía poética, impotencia amorosa e imaginación temporal en María Luisa Bombal, Pablo Neruda y Mario Benedetti'', Pensamiento Libre, Santiago de Chile, Buenos Aires. (published with the heteronym "F. Laguna Correa"

;Memoir *(2020) ''Portable Museum: Lighter Than Air (a memoir)'', Real Time, New York City. (published with the heteronym "f.l. Crank"

;Hybrid Genres *(2020) ''Pedagogy for (all): Reading Lessons'', Thinking Books, Lagos, Nigeria. (published with the heteronym "Dr. Crank"

*(2020) ''The Book Where You Surrender'', Radical Narratives, Chicago. (published with the heteronym "Dr. Crank"

*(2014) ''Resquebrajadura: deforme y mutilado, este relato'', Editorial Paroxismo, Carolina del Norte

;Aphorism *(2020) ''Aphorism(s)'', Radical Narratives, Chicago. (published with the heteronym "Dr. Crank"

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Laguna Correa, Franco Alessandro Postmodern writers Argentine male writers Living people 1986 births