r/latamlit

I’ll be leaving Uruguay soon (next stop: Buenos Aires), however, I had a great time at the 48th Feria International Del Libro de Montevideo!

One of the highlights for me was learning so much more about Uruguayan literature, which until recently was a real gap in my knowledge of Latin American literature.

In particular, I got acquainted with some of the independent presses based out of Montevideo and even got to meet some of the writers whose books I bought, including the world-renowned Fernanda Trías!

Nevertheless, I was just as excited to meet Gonzalo Baz, Dani Olivar, and Tamara Silva Bernaschina, notable contemporary Uruguayan writers who gifted me a few moments of their time! Thank you all for your warmth, patience, and willingness to speak with me at FIL!

OK, here’s my Uruguayan independent-press haul:

LA CIUDAD by Mario Levrero — Criatura Editora

GURISAS CHICAS by Dani Olivar — Criatura Editora

ANIMALES QUE VUELVEN by Gonzalo Baz — Pez en el Hielo

LOS AHOGADOS by Emanuel Bremermann — Pez en el Hielo

TEMPORADA DE BALLENAS by Tamara Silva Bernaschina — Estuario Editora

NO SOÑARÁS FLORES by Fernanda Trías — Casa Editorial HUM

Has anyone here read any of these authors? Aside from Trías, they are all new to me, but I’m excited to dive into each one of these books… sooner or later!

Aside from the classics like Mario Benedetti, Juan Carlos Onetti, Cristina Peri Rossi, and Eduardo Galeano, which other Uruguayan writers should I have on my radar?

Ramiro Sanchiz was also kind enough to spend some of his time chatting with me, and I picked up a couple of his books (thanks for signing them, Ramiro!), albeit not from Uruguayan presses, and I’m especially excited to check out LAS IMITACIONES, which was just rereleased in a special tenth-anniversary edition by Frontal Editora out of Buenos Aires.

Some Uruguayan sleepers I scored: EL FURGÓN DE LOS LOCOS by Carlos Liscano and EL GUARDESPALDAS Y OTROS CUENTOS by Nelson Marra.

Finally, I’m trying to decide if I should try to make room in my suitcase for the massive tome that is LAS CENIZAS DEL CÓNDOR by Fernando Butazzoni… has anyone here read it? If so, would you please be so kind as to tell me your thoughts? Thanks in advance!

Peace!

Is there any news related to Latin American literature that you wish to share with the community?

Are you aware of any new book releases in the field of Latin American literature?

Is there a literary event that you’d like to promote?

Do you have any other pertinent information worth sharing here?

Thanks in advance!

**********

The main work of "latamlit" to be released in the month of October that is on my radar is I’m Still Here by Marcelo Rubens Paiva (translated by Alison Entrekin and Daniel Hahn), which is to be published by Charco Press.

Have you perhaps seen Walter Salles’ film by the same name? I’d highly recommend it along with Kleber Mendonça Filho’s The Secret Agent!

Anyway, here’s Charco’s synopsis of the book:

>When Marcelo Rubens Paiva was 11 years old, his father was tortured to death by the Brazilian dictatorship. 25 years later, his mother, Eunice, helped usher into law a way for the families of the regime’s victims to finally have their deaths formally acknowledged, and allow them to seek compensation. In between, the unspooling of Brazilian democracy, and then the terrors and everydayness of life under the dictatorship, are where Paiva discovers his mother, and himself.

>Eunice Paiva — who always preferred reading a novel to cavorting with her children, who was charming, and glamorous, and who never let anyone see her cry — responded to the shock of her widowhood by going back to law school in her 40s while raising five children alone, and then becoming a heroic advocate for Brazil’s indigenous people. For her only son, his father’s death catapulted him from a childhood spent playing soccer on the beach in Rio into the rest of his life, one characterized by the awe, and confusion, of a young man, still in mourning, watching his relentless, brilliant mother plunge their family ever forward. 

>I’m Still Here is the wry, deeply evocative, and endlessly compassionate story of how a family went from raucous, sun-soaked relative innocence to a deep and abiding commitment to justice — not just for themselves, but for democracy, the marginalized, and the truth itself. “Carry on. Keep going. Wait for another bonfire to be lit on high, another beam of light to guide the way back to the coast, to solid ground."

Charco Press - I'm Still Here