Alexander Grass Humanities Institute at Johns Hopkins to sponsor The Invisible Years

The Alexander Grass Humanities Institute at Johns Hopkins and Deep Vellum are proud to partner in bringing the world’s greatest writers into dialogue across academic and public spheres. Beginning in 2025, the AGHI has supported the production, publication, and promotion of one work of literary translation annually with a sustaining grant, a translator residency, and public events on the Johns Hopkins campus. By producing and promoting major works of literary translation, the AGHI and Deep Vellum aim to deepen literary engagement in the city of Baltimore, across the nation, and throughout the world.

In 2026, the AGHI will support the translation, publication and promotion of The Invisible Years by Rodrigo Hasbún, translated by Lily Meyer. Lauded as “incisive” (Publishers Weekly) and “formally inventive,” (Kirkus Reviews), the novel alternates between 2010s Houston and 1990s Bolivia, present day and fictionalized past, deftly weaving a tale of memory, friendship, and the stories we tell ourselves in order to live.

"We are thrilled to be continuing our 'AGHI in Translation' partnership with Deep Vellum in 2026,” says Jeanne-Marie Jackson, director of the AGHI. “This collaboration has already generated real buzz on campus, and we're ready to hit the ground running with our programming next fall. We are especially excited to be partnering on a translation from Spanish, which has such a rich intellectual presence already among Johns Hopkins students and faculty." 

The Invisible Years is forthcoming in hardcover on February 24, 2026, and is available now for pre-order on the Deep Vellum website and wherever books are sold. Translator Lily Meyer will be in residence at Johns Hopkins in Fall 2026, where she will participate in a series of events on campus, as well as public events at local Baltimore bookstores.

For all inquiries, please contact Publicity Director Nadine Santoro: nadine@deepvellum.org.

Deep Vellum is a literary arts organization and nonprofit publishing house founded in 2013 based in Dallas, TX. Deep Vellum’s mission is to bring the world into conversation through literature. Since its founding, Deep Vellum has expanded to encompass five distinct publishing imprints and is now the largest publisher of translated literature in the United States.

Founded in 2016 with a historic gift from the Alexander Grass Foundation, the Alexander Grass Humanities Institute (AGHI) aims to advance humanities scholarship and teaching at Johns Hopkins and promote literature, art, philosophy, and history in Baltimore, the nation, and the world. It serves as a focal point of programming for the 13 humanities departments in the university’s Krieger School of Arts and Sciences as well as related departments and programs, building on Johns Hopkins' rich and innovative history in humanistic studies.