An Evening with Julia Alvarez & Krystal Quiles | In the Time of the Butterflies
Join the History Book Festival for a special 10th Anniversary event featuring author Julia Alvarez and illustrator Krystal Quiles. This online-only event will feature their graphic novel version of Alvarez’s classic, In the Time of the Butterflies. This event is presented in partnership with Lewes Public Library and and Browseabout Books.
This very first graphic edition of the internationally bestselling modern-day classic about three brave sisters fighting against dictatorship is illustrated by award-winning artist Krystal Quiles. Set during the waning days of Trujillo’s rule in the Dominican Republic, In the Time of the Butterflies was inspired by the true story of the three Mirabal sisters, known as Las Mariposas, or the Butterflies, who were murdered on November 25, 1960, for their part in an underground plot to overthrow the government.
First published in 1994, the historical novel went on to receive wide acclaim, being nominated for that year’s National Book Critical Circle Award, adapted into a feature film in 2001 starring Salma Hayek, and selected for the National Endowment for the Arts’ reading program, The Big Read. Today, In the Time of the Butterflies has sold over a million copies in all formats and is known as a modern classic. This magnificently illustrated edition of the novel reintroduces readers to the Mirabal sisters and renders these historical figures as never before seen.
Julia Alvarez left the Dominican Republic for the United States in 1960 at the age of ten. She is the author of six novels, three nonfiction books, three collections of poetry, and eleven titles for children and young adults. She has taught and mentored writers in schools and communities across America and, until her retirement in 2016, was a writer-in- residence at Middlebury College. Her work has garnered wide recognition, including a Latina Leader Award in Literature from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, the Hispanic Heritage Award in Literature, the Woman of the Year by Latina magazine, and inclusion in the New York Public Library’s program “The Hand of the Poet: Original Manuscripts by 100 Masters, from John Donne to Julia Alvarez.” In the Time of the Butterflies, with over one million copies in print, was selected by the National Endowment for the Arts for its national Big Read program, and in 2013 President Obama awarded Alvarez the National Medal of Arts in recognition of her extraordinary storytelling. In 2024, she was profiled in the American Masters documentary, Julia Alvarez: A Life Reimagined, on PBS.
Krystal Quiles is an artist and illustrator who splits her creative time between Philadelphia and New York City. A graduate of Pratt Institute, Krystal has worked in the editorial world and has illustrated children’s books, including The Coquíes Still Sing / Los Coquíes Aún Cantan, for which she received a Pura Belpré Illustrator Honor. In the Time of Butterflies is her debut adapted graphic novel.
We invite you to support the author by purchasing a copy of their book from Browseabout Books. Call-in orders are accepted at (302) 226-2665 or you can stop by the store to purchase a copy. For store hours, please visit their website. Each copy purchased comes signed.
