LONDON.- The Argentine writer Selva Almada He belongs to a new trend of Latin American authors who are becoming known internationally. “There is more attention to our literature in recent years,” he acknowledges in London, in an interview with AFP.
The 51-year-old from Entre Ríos traveled to the British capital, where she will be until Sunday, when she was selected to compete for the Booker International Prize, a prestigious British literary prize, which was won on Tuesday by the German Jenny Erpenbeck, with her book Kairos.
Almada, finalist with the English translation of his book It’s not a river, She was highlighted by the organizers of the prestigious award as: “one of the most powerful voices in contemporary Latin American literature and one of the most influential feminist intellectuals in the region.”
“I think that at this moment Latin American literature is very good. There is a variety of authors, especially female authors, very diverse, very rich, with super interesting books. And they are also authors who, luckily, are widely translated into different languages “he points out.
“Beyond the Booker, there is attention to Latin American literature from the rest of the world in recent years, thanks to these books and these authors,” he adds.
Translated into several languages
Selva Almada’s works have been translated into French, English, Italian, Portuguese, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian and Turkish.
“When I write a book and publish it in Argentina, its future is always quite uncertain. So the fact that it is translated, that it circulates, that it has new readers, for me that is a great joy. And if that also contributes to spread Argentine and Latin American literature in the world, because I am doubly happy,” he says.
It’s not a riverselected in London, is the author’s third novel, after The wind that sweeps away y brick makers, after having started in the world of poetry with Bad dolls.
“Having been selected is very important for me personally as an author, but also as part of Latin American literature, because it is an award that is very important to put books into circulation and for readers to also look a little towards Latin American authors. “explains the author.
It’s not a riverwhich was up for the Booker Prize, can be considered the third chapter of a trilogy of works by Selva Almada, after her two previous novels, in which she explores the world of men, focusing on the emotional ties that are usually established between them, such as feelings and violence.
Theme about the world of men
“The three novels have men as protagonists and the different ways of relating that men have are investigated. The relationships between parents and children, between friends, between lovers. It is a universe quite permeated by masculinity and misogyny,” he says. the author.
“I am quite curious about the world of men and above all to imagine possibilities of why they act the way they do. Especially thinking that our continent is very permeated by machismo. I try to unravel in novels and fiction how it works a little that device,” he points out.
In 2021, he collaborated with the Argentine director Maximiliano Schonfeld on the script of the film Jesus Lopez and was a finalist for the Mario Vargas Llosa Biennial Novel Prize, also with It’s not a riverwhich would win the IILA-Letteratura award in Rome in 2023.
“The only thing I seek with writing is to continue writing. I have a lot of fun writing. Every time I start a new book it is like a kind of abyss into which I look out. I really like that state. And then, well, I celebrate that there are also readers who are interested in those books,” he says.
“The exchange that then happens with these readers is very interesting to me, very rich. I am interested in literature that entertains. I have been a very reader since I was a child and I owe it to books to open doors to unknown worlds. If that also happens to someone with my literature, I think the job is done,” he concludes.
Source: AFP
