Monday, May 4, 2009

Interview with Santiago Roncagliolo

The Boston Globe published a short interview with Peruvian writer Santiago Roncagliolo over the weekend. Roncagliolo, who lives in Spain and was the youngest author to ever win the prestigious Alfaguara prize in 2006, discusses his political thriller Abril Rojo . The book, set in Peru in 2000, tells the story of an assistant prosecutor who is trying to solve a mystery around several murders. He thinks that they may be related to the Shining Path at a time when everyone around him insists that the movement is dead.

Roncagliolo told the Globe, "This is also a moment in Peru (and in Spain) when people are considering their violent histories, searching for a new way to understand. And remember, in Peru we are the first ones writing on this subject who were not participants, not suspects. And we are writing at a time when there are no absolute truths."

The English version of the book, translated by Edith Grossman, was released last week as Red April.


Photo credit: Alfaguara
Online sources: Boston Globe, Amazon.com

No comments:

Post a Comment