Mariana Enríquez: "A little bit of performance is required of us writers"

Dare.

As a gift to readers whose devotion is surprising, even for the writer herself.

, one of the largest in Buenos Aires, to present

, while she will build a bridge of questions and answers with her readers/fans, as he calls them.

is the title of the innovative proposal that on March 16 at 8:00 p.m. the author of

will perform , together with the plastic artist Alejandro Bustos, whose ephemeral art is with sand, the saxophonist Pablo Ledesma and double bass player Horacio “Mono” Hurtado.

During the entire show, the narrator aspires to have

, whom she will also add to the stage since

that they send her through her Instagram account. .that had.

Because

a few days ago, the account was hacked and she is in the process of recovering it.

During the Zoom chat with

, Enríquez shared some of the works that his followers send him and there are many that are truly remarkable.

While she finishes preparing the show and writes at full speed before getting back on a plane to fulfill a commitment abroad, the author of

announced that on Thursday, March 16, she will read her texts own and also of others, and reserve a bonus track:

.

“I have yet to see what it is by extension.

I am not an actress nor am I a standupper, so the only thing I can do is read, ”she says from her house in Buenos Aires, recently arrived from the gym.

This is the first full-length show that she stars in to share a selection of texts that will go from "non-fiction to fiction, to the novel, and I'm interested in having these readings commented on."

“I have many signed books to give away and for interested collectors I will have some editions in English and French.

It will have all my literary imprint.

I am writing some short stories to decide which one we choose,”

she said.

She also revealed that while the spectators listen to her, "Alejandro Bustos can achieve with his art a kind of fairy tale, very dark, and that with a double bass creates a whole climate."

The show that Mariana Enríquez will star in at the Teatro Coliseo sold out 1,700 seats.

Clarín file photo.

And he also announced that they will provide “a bit of background so that the reading is not dry, but that it is commented.

And there will be a half hour of questions and answers.

The writer explained that

and added that "there is a segment of writers who like to do this."

“At festivals, in book presentations, in public interviews, if you have a somewhat intense circuit you are used to it,

You can say no.

But if one is interested in contact with the public and with other writers, and to enjoy a little what literature gives you,

There are others who don't care and that's okay.

This show is different, a kind of more careful styling that I can do ”, he expressed.

The idea was not hers, but Paula Nicolini's, who is the producer of this show, who also observed a particular phenomenon that was happening on Enríquez's Instagram account.

“It seemed important to me to make this show that includes the readers;

we are going to project some fan art because I have readers, but also fans.

.

I react by suggestion, I'm not that enterprising, so I liked taking literature to another level, ”she revealed.

-Could it be said that the show is designed for your readers?

-Yes, it is a bit designed for the readers, that is why they will have so much participation.

Their images are going to be projected, they are going to ask,

, to give them something aesthetic, thoughtful, with some new text, with little gifts, and it seemed good to me.

It was not crazy to think that they are and expect something like that.

-What are you going to present to the readers?

-My Instagram was hacked, but luckily I saved drawings from the readers.

For example, of Juan and Gaspar, the characters of

.

But there are lots of drawings, more than 200, that readers have uploaded to my account that I hope to recover.

And I want them to have the names of the authors of the drawings.

Mariana Enríquez: "It is not so common to have a complicit relationship with readers."

Clarín file photo.

-Teatro Coliseo sold out.

What does that phenomenon tell you?

-It is surprising that all the tickets are sold.

I do not quite understand.

.

I can go see a musician, but go see a writer in a theater, no.

It's hard for me to relate.

But it does happen to me that in book presentations or festivals it is usually full.

I fail to understand why.

Now there was a poetry festival in the CCK and it exploded with people.

.

In my case I understand a little more because a lot of what I write is genre.

So the fantastic, horror reader has a different intensity.

But it doesn't always happen.

It also happened in the pandemic.

So most of the readers read in the pandemic and it was spread by word of mouth.

And it was a strange time where we were all a bit upset and I had no contact with people.

So I don't quite understand.

Yes, there is something that catches my attention and it is

There is a particular contact, an identification, it is difficult to interpret it from the leading role.

-In The New York Times you were recently highlighted as one of the most relevant contemporary Latin American writers.

You come from being a finalist for awards and winning other important ones.

You have grown in specialized criticism.

-In the United States the book (

") did very well.

And in France much better.

Especially in criticism and reviews.

has been reissued

, with references on the cover.

Also in the

with very positive reviews.

And in Spain it is doing very well because it was like the moment: first the Herralde Prize and then the Critics' Prize.

There is a double repercussion that is rare for being a genre book.

And it also does well with the most pop readers.

-There is a genre with which your readers already identify you.

Do you feel more comfortable with that one?

-Yes, you say with the fantastic, the

, the rare, but it's not all I do.

When I do well with a genre it is because it already has its own language and mine has to do with this genre because it is what I like in art, what I read, I have a general tendency to like the dark, horror , everything related to this and pop.

From Twin Peaks to comics, I feel more comfortable there because it's my natural language.

It costs me much more or I don't have as much fun with another part of literature.

.

Which does not mean that it cannot go towards something else.

In a dialogue with Clarín Cultura, Enríquez assured that "the enthusiasm for reading Argentine literature" caught his attention.

Clarín file photo.

-In your movement through festivals and presentations, do you manage to observe the differences between your readers?

Or are we all trying to escape reality through the fantastic?

-There are many differences.

I have writers my age who were young in the 90s where the generational component is very clear, from references that they recognize, which attracts them far beyond the genre.

Then

.

And then there is a lower reading public that does not have such a strong identification, but understands that

.

The issue of evasion is typical of the genre, but not only.

Evasion is in all kinds of narrative.

From reading a memory or a fiction, in which you vicariously live the life of another.

That seems fine to me.

I think

, and thinking about it as an evasion and as enriching in other ways, are not contradictory things.

If you think about it in a contradictory way, you drive away a lot of people.

If you read Rimbaud and Faulkner, maybe there are references in which you make more connections, but you can also enjoy

in another way.

I am interested in literature that opens and does not close other senses.

-What are you working on now?

-I am finishing a book of short stories to deliver in a week and also a novel;

then we'll see how the publisher decides to publish them.

The writing is going pretty well.

I am between Australia and Argentina because my husband is Australian.

This year I don't want to travel until October, but in the middle they invited me to Iceland and I'm going in April.

Then I do stay in Buenos Aires to write.

And I would like to travel through Argentina.

Enríquez's perspective on literature from the interior of the country

Mariana Enriquez was for a time director of the National Endowment for the Arts (FNA).

Regarding the literary production of the provinces, she says that

"This is being tried to reverse and it's good because there are very good books among those that are presented in literary contests," she said.

As an awards jury, he enthusiastically observes the quality of writing in our country and says that attention must be paid to these names that are not as widespread.

look too

Mariana Enríquez: "Living in fear of crises helps to write terror"

In the cemetery: a story by Mariana Enriquez arrives at the theater