Alejandro Zambra

Alejandro Zambra
Alejandro Zambra
	Zambra at the 2015 National Book Festival
Born	September 24, 1975 (age 48); Santiago, Chile
Occupation	Writer
Language	Spanish
Alma mater	University of Chile, Pontifical Catholic University
Notable works	Bonsái (2006), Formas de volver a casa (2011)
Notable awards	Altazor Award, Prince Claus Awards
Spouse	Jazmina Barrera
Children	2

Alejandro Andrés Zambra Infantas (Santiago, Chile, born September 24, 1975) is a Chilean poet, short-story writer and novelist. He has been recognized for his talent as a young Latin American writer, chosen in 2007 as one of the "Bogotá39" (the best Latin American writers under the age of 39) and in 2010 by Granta as one of the best Spanish-language writers under the age of 35.^[2]

Early life and education

Alejandro Zambra was raised in 1975 in Maipú, Chile, a suburb of Santiago, during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. In a magazine interview with his close friend from his Master's program, Zambra explains his thoughts on growing up in Chile during the 1970s and 1980s. Growing up in such a time, Zambra considers himself and his generation, "children of the dictatorship." He later describes how his life changed after Pinochet's end of power, "The nineties were a time of smudging out. The dictatorship tried to impose all of those stupid discourses, and those discourses erased us."^[3]

Zambra studied at the Instituto Nacional General José Miguel Carrera and the University of Chile, from which he graduated in 1997 with a degree in Hispanic literature. He won a scholarship to pursue postgraduate studies in Madrid, where he obtained an MA in Hispanic studies.^[3] Back in Chile, he received a PhD in literature from the Pontifical Catholic University.^[4]

Career

Zambra describes the beginning of his writing career by saying: "I wouldn't choose to be a writer. Actually I don't think I ever chose it, I was just undeniably worse at other things."^[5] Zambra began with writing poetry, citing influences such as Nicanor Parra, Jorge Teillier, Gonzalo Millán, and Enrique Lihn, and his brief novels are noted for their poetic natures.^[6] He is often noted for his successful use of metafiction, or writing about writing, in his novels. Short stories and articles by Zambra have been featured in magazines such as The New Yorker, The Paris Review, McSweeney's Quarterly Concern, Babelia, and Quimera.^[7] Zambra also has worked as a literary critic for the newspaper La Tercera and as a professor at the School of Literature at Diego Portales University in Santiago.^[8]

He is married to Mexican writer Jazmina Barrera, with whom he has a son.^[9]

Bonsái

Zambra's first novel, Bonsái, attracted much attention in Chile^[10] and appeared in the Spanish Editorial Anagrama, which was awarded the Chilean Critics Award for best novel of the year in 2006. As the highly influential Santiago newspaper El Mercurio summed up, "The publication of Bonsai ... marked a kind of bloodletting in Chilean literature. It was said (or argued) that it represented the end of an era, or the beginning of another, in the nation's letters."^[11] Bonsái was eventually translated into several languages, such as English at Melville Publishing House by Carolina Robertis. Just five years later, the book was turned into a film of the same name^[12] directed by Christían Jiménez, and presented at the Cannes Film Festival in 2011.^[13]

The Private Lives of Trees

In this second novel, a writer tells his stepdaughter a bedtime story called "The Private Lives of Trees" (the same title as the novel), which he plans to end when the mother returns home from work. This novel appears to be somewhat autobiographical, as the man in the story also has finished a book about bonsai trees, referencing Zambra's previous successful novel Bonsái.^[14]

Ways of Going Home

His 2013 novel Ways of Going Home is fictional but draws heavily on Zambra's childhood experience under the Pinochet dictatorship. The novel switches between the memory of a nine-year-old boy growing up during a restrictive dictatorship and the life of the narrator who is writing the story, an example of meta-writing, or writing about writing. "This small novel contains a surprising vastness, created by its structure of alternating chapters of fiction and reality," Adam Thirlwell writes in The New York Times. "Almost every miniature event or conversation is subject to a process of revision, until you realize that Zambra is staging not just a single story of life under political repression, but the conditions for telling any story at all."^[15]

Bibliography

Poetry

1998 - Bahía Inútil, poems 1996–1998, Ediciones Stratis, Santiago, ISBN 978-956-288-147-0
2003 - Mudanza, Santiago, Quid Ediciones.

Novels

2006 - Bonsái, Barcelona, Anagrama.
- Bonsai. Translated by Carolina De Robertis. Melville House Publishing, 2008.
- Bonsai : a novel. Translated by Megan McDowell. Penguin Books, 2022.
2007 - La vida privada de los árboles, Barcelona, Anagrama.
- The Private Lives of Trees. Translated by Megan McDowell. Open Letter Books, 2010.
2011 - Formas de volver a casa, Barcelona, Anagrama.
- Ways of Going Home. Translated by Megan McDowell. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2013.
2014 - Facsímil, Santiago, Hueders; Buenos Aires, Eterna Cadencia (2015); Madrid, Sexto Piso (2015).
- Multiple Choice. Translated by Megan McDowell. Penguin Books, 2016.
2020 - Poeta chileno, Barcelona, Anagrama.
- Chilean Poet. Translated by Megan McDowell. Viking Books, 2022.

Short fiction

Collections

2013 - Mis documentos (Anagrama, Barcelona)
- My documents. Translated by Megan McDowell. McSweeney's, 2015.

Stories^[a]

Title	Year	First published	Reprinted/collected	Notes
Skyscrapers	2022	Zambra, Alejandro (August 22, 2022). "Skyscrapers". The New Yorker. 98 (25): 54–59.		Translated from the Spanish by Megan McDowell

Criticism and essays

2010 - No leer, compilation of critiques, Barcelona, Alpha Decay, 2012.
- Not to read. Translated by Megan McDowell. London: Fitzcarraldo Editions. 2018.
2019 - Tema libre, compilation of short stories, essays, and chronicles, Barcelona, Anagrama.

Critical studies and reviews of Zambra's work

Not to read

Martin, Andrew (March 7–20, 2019). "A more personal Chile". The New York Review of Books. 66 (4): 8–11.

———————

Bibliography notes

^ Short stories unless otherwise noted.

Film adaptions

Bonsái, 2017^[16]^[13]
Family Life, 2011^[17]

Awards

2005: Literature-art award III for the poem Directions in collaboration with Sachiyo Nishimura
2007: Critic of Chile Award for Bonsái (best novel of 2006)
2007: National Council of Reading and Books Award for Bonsái (best novel of 2006)
2007: Finalist for Altazor Prize for Bonsái
2008: Finalist for Best Translated Book of the year for Bonsái
2010: Best Young Spanish-Language Novelists as chosen by Granta
2010: Finalist for Prix du Marais for The Private Lives of Trees
2012: Altazor prize for Ways of Going Home (best narrative of 2011)
2012: Nominated for an International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award for The Private Lives of Trees
2012: Finalist for The Americas Award for Ways of Going Home
2012: Finalist Medici Prize for Ways of Going Home (Secondary Persons)
2012: National Council of Reading and Books Award for Ways of Going Home
2013: Prince Claus Award
2014: Miniciple Literature of Santiago Prize- general story for My Documents
2014: Finalist for Hispanic-American Prize for Gabriel García Márquez story
2015–2016: Cullman Center fellow at the New York Public Library

References

^ "2012 Principal Prince Claus awardees announced" (Press release). Prince Claus Fund for Culture and Development. Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved November 13, 2013.
^ "Zambra, Alejandro - Editorial Anagrama". Editorial Anagrama (in European Spanish). Retrieved 2018-11-19.
^ ^a ^b "Alejandro Zambra on the Intimacy of Writing Tales of Love, and the Anhedonia After the Nineties - Extra Extra Magazine". Extra Extra Magazine. Retrieved 2018-11-18.
^ "Alejandro Zambra | The Short Story Project". www.shortstoryproject.com. Retrieved 2018-11-18.
^ "The TLS interview: Twenty Questions with Alejandro Zambra". www.the-tls.co.uk. Retrieved 2018-11-19.
^ Vidal, Juan (28 Feb 2014). "Image is Everything: An Interview with Alejandro Zambra". ProQuest 1648946088.
^ "Alejandro Zambra | The Short Story Project". www.shortstoryproject.com. Retrieved 2018-11-19.
^ "Interview with Alejandro Zambra - The White Review". www.thewhitereview.org. Retrieved 2018-11-19.
^ librero |, El. "El librero de Jazmina Barrera y Alejandro Zambra | Más Cultura" (in Mexican Spanish). Retrieved 2024-05-21.
^ "Escritores cuentan cómo crean obras". Los Tiempos (in Spanish). August 25, 2007. Archived from the original on November 13, 2013. Retrieved November 13, 2013.
^ Valdes, Marcela (July 6, 2009). "Seed Projects: The Fiction of Alejandro Zambra". The Nation. Retrieved November 13, 2013.
^ Leo Nikolaidis. "Interview with Bonsai director Cristián Jiménez". Sounds and Colours. Archived from the original on December 20, 2014. Retrieved April 10, 2012.
^ ^a ^b "Bonsai, from the Cinéfondation to Un Certain Regard". Festival de Cannes 2018. 2011-05-14. Retrieved 2018-11-18.
^ Curry, Ruth (2010). "Alejandro Zambra: The Private Lives of Trees". The Literary Review. Retrieved 19 Nov 2018.
^ Thirlwell, Adam (29 Mar 2019). "By Night in Chile". The New York Times. Retrieved 2018-11-19.
^ "Bonsái" – via www.imdb.com.
^ "Family Life" – via www.imdb.com.

External links

2015 Bomb Magazine interview of Alejandro Zambra by Daniel Alarcón

[16] Short stories unless otherwise noted.

[1] "2012 Principal Prince Claus awardees announced" (Press release). Prince Claus Fund for Culture and Development. Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved November 13, 2013.

[2] "Zambra, Alejandro - Editorial Anagrama". Editorial Anagrama (in European Spanish). Retrieved 2018-11-19.

[:0-3] "Alejandro Zambra on the Intimacy of Writing Tales of Love, and the Anhedonia After the Nineties - Extra Extra Magazine". Extra Extra Magazine. Retrieved 2018-11-18.

[:1-4] "Alejandro Zambra | The Short Story Project". www.shortstoryproject.com. Retrieved 2018-11-18.

[5] "The TLS interview: Twenty Questions with Alejandro Zambra". www.the-tls.co.uk. Retrieved 2018-11-19.

[6] Vidal, Juan (28 Feb 2014). "Image is Everything: An Interview with Alejandro Zambra". ProQuest 1648946088.

[7] "Alejandro Zambra | The Short Story Project". www.shortstoryproject.com. Retrieved 2018-11-19.

[8] "Interview with Alejandro Zambra - The White Review". www.thewhitereview.org. Retrieved 2018-11-19.

[9] rero |, El. "El librero de Jazmina Barrera y Alejandro Zambra | Más Cultura" (in Mexican Spanish). Retrieved 2024-05-21.

[10] "Escritores cuentan cómo crean obras". Los Tiempos (in Spanish). August 25, 2007. Archived from the original on November 13, 2013. Retrieved November 13, 2013.

[Valdes-11] Valdes, Marcela (July 6, 2009). "Seed Projects: The Fiction of Alejandro Zambra". The Nation. Retrieved November 13, 2013.

[soundsandcolours-12] Leo Nikolaidis. "Interview with Bonsai director Cristián Jiménez". Sounds and Colours. Archived from the original on December 20, 2014. Retrieved April 10, 2012.

[:2-13] "Bonsai, from the Cinéfondation to Un Certain Regard". Festival de Cannes 2018. 2011-05-14. Retrieved 2018-11-18.

[14] Curry, Ruth (2010). "Alejandro Zambra: The Private Lives of Trees". The Literary Review. Retrieved 19 Nov 2018.

[15] Thirlwell, Adam (29 Mar 2019). "By Night in Chile". The New York Times. Retrieved 2018-11-19.

[17] "Bonsái" – via www.imdb.com.

[18] "Family Life" – via www.imdb.com.

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Alejandro Zambra

Early life and education

Career

Bonsái

The Private Lives of Trees

Ways of Going Home

Bibliography

Poetry

Novels

Short fiction

Criticism and essays

Critical studies and reviews of Zambra's work

Film adaptions

Awards

References

Further reading

External links

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