open pit: a story about morococha and extractivism in the américas

Jose Antonio Villarán

Apr 2022 · Counterpath

About this ebook

The open pit: a story about morococha and extractivism in the américas explores the role of extraction under the current capitalist accumulation model, through the specific story of the town of Morococha, located in the central Peruvian Andes, and the ways in which extraction permeates most aspects of human activity. An assemblage of collective enunciations woven through a letter to the author’s seven-year-old son, the book connects the world of mining and extraction to everyday life, personal histories of growing up in Lima, Perú, and living in California.

About the author

Jose Antonio Villarán is the author of two books of poetry: la distancia es siempre la misma (2006) & el cerrajero (2012); one book of translation, Album of Fences (2018); and creator of the AMLT project (http://amlt-elcomienzo.blogspot.pe), an exploration of hypertext literature and collective authorship. A Spanish edition of open pit is also forthcoming from Album del Universo Bakterial in Peru. Villarán holds an MFA in Writing from UCSD and is a PhD candidate in Literature at UCSC. He lives in Davis, California, with his son.