Conversationsby César Aira
translated by Katherine Silver
It’s a wonderful feeling to discover a new author. Whether in a sparkling new debut, or that recommendation which you’ve put off reading, there is a particular freshness when opening the title of someone you’ve never read before. Newly released translations can act as gateways in this same way. They lead us to entirely distinct literary traditions and authors we are otherwise unfamiliar with, the metaphor being language as our key to open the door, permitting us to enter into rooms previously unseen. Following the metaphor through, Conversationsby César Aira was my introduction to a whole new wing of the house.
Born in Coronel Pringles, Argentina, César Aira is author to more than seventy books, from novels to collections of stories and essays. Though Aira is a translator himself, the task of translating Conversations to English was undertaken by the co-director…
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