… or, at least, how the writers we already know and love do what they do. Last week, La Nación published a series of interviews with prominent Argentinian writers about their creative process. What’s interesting about the piece is that it does not just address the intangible (and largely indescribable) epiphanies we associate with creativity, … More In the News: How to Write
A meandering review of Ilan Stavan’s Lengua Fresca. The Grand Canyon State recently stepped into the spotlight of public opinion, passing a controversial immigration law that authorizes law enforcement agents to stop any ‘suspicious person’ at any time and demand to see documentation of their legal status in the US. Reactions to the legislation have … More Between Arizona and a Hard Place
After glancing at it from time to time as it gathered dust on my desk, I finally got around to reading Fernando Báez’s El traductor de Cambridge (Lengua de Trapo, 2005). The book hasn’t been translated into English and – as much as the idea of a sadistically misanthropic translator in the employ of one … More some things are better left unsaid
The stars must have been aligned last week when I wrote about the literary conference in Ushuaia; that evening I happened across Carlos Sorín’s “Historias mínimas” (2002, translated as “Intimate Stories”), a beautiful, meditative work that also takes place in the southern reaches of Argentina. In the work, Patagonia serves as more than an emblem … More Lives in Miniature
Open Letter Books just released The Private Lives of Trees, a new novel by Alejandro Zambra, author of the promising work Bonsai – nominated for the Best Translated Book Award of 2008, and reviewed here a few months ago. The Private Lives of Trees was translated by Megan McDowell. According to the publisher, The Private … More …and the only prescription is more Zambra.
The PEN American Center just announced the recipients of its 2010 Translation Fund grants. The projects selected include plays, short fiction and poetry, and represent languages ranging from Urdu, Turkish and Greek to German and Yorùbá. Sadly, there isn’t a single translation from Spanish on the list – but PEN has a solid history of … More PEN Translation Fund
An interesting news item from one of the roving cronistas at Ñ, who attended a session of last week’s Ibero-American Festival of New Narrative in Ushuaia, Argentina – aka “the end of the Earth” (have you ever seen anything more beautiful?). “It may be,” begins Andrés Hax, that the most interesting question one can ask … More Alan Pauls is a liar.
The National of Abu Dhabi just published Scott Esposito’s review of El congreso de literatura (The Literary Conference), which was covered here last week. In it, Esposito also makes some interesting observations about what makes Aira’s work so appealing. Here’s a taste: Aira is indeed an author who loves to keep multiple balls in the … More Reasons other people love César Aira
A freight train, laden with would-be immigrants to the United States, lumbers resolutely north through Mexico, a tableau of impoverished rural towns stretching out to either side. We know that these are images of human struggle in the face of oppressive conditions, but we can’t help but notice how beautiful the landscape is, how striking … More Sin Nombre, but with a Hollywood sensibility
Mario Bellatin loves this story. I can tell because he has started repeating himself, going back over the details. It is the story of how he came to write Perros héroes: the loss of a faithful canine companion, the recommendation of a friend, the drive to the outskirts of town to meet with a respected … More Writing off the page with Mario Bellatin
Heather Cleary 