Granta names 22 best young Spanish-language novelists
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At a news conference in Madrid, Granta and its sibling literary journal Granta en Español announced the 22 best young Spanish-language novelists, all of whom will appear in the magazines’ November issues. It’s the first time that Granta, based in England, has created a young novelists list for works written in a language other than English -- previous lists have focused on top British and American writers.
Andrés Barba – Spain, b. 1975Oliverio Coelho – Argentina, b. 1977 Andrés Ressia Colino – Uruguay, b. 1977 Federico Falco – Argentina, b. 1977 Pablo Gutiérrez – Spain, b. 1978 Rodrigo Hasbún – Bolivia, b. 1981 Sònia Hernández – Spain, b. 1976 Carlos Labbé – Chile, b. 1977 Javier Montes – Spain, b. 1976Elvira Navarro – Spain, b. 1978 Matías Néspolo – Argentina, b. 1975 Andrés Neuman – Argentina, b. 1977 Alberto Olmos – Spain, b. 1975 Pola Oloixarac – Argentina, b. 1977 Antonio Ortuño – Mexico, b. 1976 Patricio Pron – Argentina, b. 1975 Lucía Puenzo – Argentina, b. 1976 Santiago Roncagliolo – Peru, b. 1975 Andrés Felipe Solano – Colombia, b. 1977 Samanta Schweblin – Argentina, b. 1978 Carlos Yushimito – Peru, b. 1977 Alejandro Zambra – Chile, b. 1975
The New York Times reports that about two-thirds of the writers have not yet been published in English, making their appearance in the November Granta issue their debuts.
The novelists were selected by a panel of six judges: the two editors of Granta en Español; Guatemalan American novelist Francisco Goldman; Catalan author Mercedes Monmany; former Latin American correspondent Isabel Hilton, who is British; and Argentinian writer/filmmaker Edgaro Cozarinsky.
Argentina has a strong showing: 8 of the 22 writers are from there. Several have lived in the U.S., including four who reside here now. Carlos Yushimito is attending graduate school at Brown. ‘I’m the kind of writer who has always circulated in small editions by alternative presses,’ he told the New York Times. ‘This puts me in a different sphere.’
Whether that sphere will make it to Los Angeles is not yet known. Granta has announced events for its young spanish novelists issue in London, New York and Miami, but nothing has yet been planned for Los Angeles, a representative told The Times. It would be a shame if Granta en Espanol bypassed California -- or Texas or New Mexico, for that matter -- as the literary journal tries to reach out to Spanish-language readers.
-- Carolyn Kellogg
