Slum Virgin

by Gabriela Cabezón Cámara, Frances Riddle (Translator)

Overview

“Queer writing at its most exhilarating.” —Times Literary Supplement

The slums of Buenos Aires, the government, the mafia, the Virgin Mary, corrupt police, sex workers, thieves, drug dealers, and debauchery all combine in this sweeping novel deemed a ‘revelation for contemporary literature’ and ‘pure dynamite’ (Andrés Neuman, author of Traveller of the Century & Talking to Ourselves).

When the Virgin Mary appears to Cleopatra, she renounces sex work and takes charge of the shantytown she lives in, transforming it into a tiny utopia. Ambitious journalist Quity knows she’s found the story of the year when she hears about it, but her life is changed forever once she finds herself irrevocably seduced by the captivating subject of her article. Densely-packed, fast-paced prose, weaving slang and classical references, Slum Virgin refuses to whitewash the reality of the poor and downtrodden, and jumps deftly from tragedy to comedy in a way that has the reader laughing out loud.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781999722708
Publisher:	Charco Press
Publication date:	08/20/2020
Pages:	147
Sales rank:	669,270
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Gabriela Cabezón Cámara was born in Buenos Aires in 1968. Her debut novel La virgen cabeza (published in English as Slum Virgin by Charco Press, 2017) was followed by Romance de la negra rubia (Romance of the Black Blonde, 2014) as well as by two collections of short stories. In 2011 she published the novella Le viste la cara a Dios (You’ve Seen God’s Face), later republished as a graphic novel, Beya (Biutiful), illustrated by Iñaki Echeverría. Beya was awarded the Argentine Senate’s Alfredo Palacios Prize and was recognised by the Buenos Aires City Council and the Congress of Buenos Aires Province for its social and cultural significance as well as for its contribution in the fight against human trafficking. During 2013, she was writer-in-residence at UC Berkeley, and in 2019 she was part of the Literarisches Colloquium Berlin.

Frances Riddle has translated numerous Spanish-language authors including Isabel Allende, Claudia Piñeiro, Leila Guerriero, and Sara Gallardo. Her translation of Theatre of War by Andrea Jeftanovic was granted an English PEN Award in 2020. Her work has appeared in journals such as Granta, Electric Literature, and The White Review, among others. She holds a BA in Spanish Language Literature from Louisiana State Universityand an MA in Translation Studies from the Universityof Buenos Aires. In 2022, Frances’ translation of Elena Knows by Claudia Piñeiro was shortlisted for the International Booker Prize. Originally from Houston, Texas she lives in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Read an Excerpt

Atoms, molecules whipped into a frenzy by random chance, that’s all life is. This was the kind of profound insight that filled my head out there on the island in the Delta, half-naked and without any of my things, not even a computer, just a little bit of cash and the credit cards I couldn’t use until we left Argentina. My thoughts were rotten: sticks, beer bottles, lily pads, used condoms, crumbling docks and headless dolls, a collage of losses discarded by the tide. I felt like a castaway who’d barely survived a shipwreck. Although I’ve learnt by now that no one ever really survives a shipwreck. The ones who drown end up dead and the ones who are saved spend the rest of their lives drowning.

Editorial Reviews

★ 04/27/2020

Cámara’s stunning Booker International–shortlisted tour de force (after The Adventures of China Iron) follows Cleo, a trans ex-prostitute, known as the “transvestite saint” for her visions of Virgin Mary, through accounts from Quity, a down-and-out journalist hoping for redemption. Cleo’s visions expose the motivations of the rich, poor, police, media, thieves, and gangs in the brutal Argentinian slum of El Poso, where she lives. After Quity, a depressive atheist, meets Cleo, she receives a grant to write Cleo’s life story, and immerses herself in El Poso’s hardscrabble world. While driving through town high on cocaine, Quity discovers a young woman who’s just been tortured by local mobster The Beast, “a human flame running a kind of epileptic race,” and puts the woman out of her misery with her .38. The Beast’s later murder creates a power vacuum filled by politically connected El Jefe, who is set on selling the slum for development, minus its inhabitants. Meanwhile, Quity and Cleo become lovers, the Virgin inspires Cleo to write a cumbia opera, and the two plot their escape from El Poso. With humor and a frenetic pace, the propulsive narrative is roiled with fabulism, faith, existentialism, and concern for the rights of the impoverished, all tinged with bittersweet and poetic turns of phrase. Cámara’s breakout tale is mind-blowingly good. (June)

Publishers Weekly

Silverio Cañada Memorial Prize (Shortlist)

"Queer writing at its most exhilarating." —The Times Literary Supplement

"Cámara’s breakout tale is mind-blowingly good." —Publishers Weekly, starred review

"A revelation for contemporary literature." —Andrés Neuman, author of TRAVELLER OF THE CENTURY and TALKING TO OURSELVES

Globetrotting: Your sneak preview of books in translation —New York Times

"Cámara has a powerful voice, one to be taken seriously." —Library Journal

"Cabezón Cámara’s exuberant range of styles truly shines." —Asymptote

"Book of the Year 2009." —Rolling Stone (Argentina)

**********
Praise for Gabriela Cabezón Cámara

International Booker Prize (Shortlist)

"A thrilling and mystical miniature epic." —The Guardian

"[The Adventures of China Iron] reminds us, in Cabezón Cámara’s entrancing poetry, how magical and frankly unpleasant it is to live through history." —New York Times

"[The Adventures of China Iron] compels readers to examine critically not only the biases of the myths we celebrate, but also how they seep into our contemporary understandings of nationhood." —LA Review of Books

"Brilliantly translated by Fiona Mackintosh and Iona Macintyre, this is a heartfelt, dreamlike paean to Argentina’s past and what might have been had the pampas been left alone." —The Times Literary Supplement

"Cabezón Cámara’s exciting LGBTQ look at pioneers of the pampas makes for a rewarding and subversive treat." —Publishers Weekly

"Shaking loose new possibilities for how we might reshape the present precisely by unsettling something seemingly so settled as the past." —Music & Literature

"Daring." —The Financial Times

"A daring, playful story." —New Statesman

"A wonderful reading experience, filled with light, joy, discovery, friendship, and love." —The Massachusetts Review

"An unexpected ride that delivers on all accounts." —DIVA Magazine

"By disrupting pedagogical nationalist representations, Cámara’s story enables all those places in the margins to re-signify constructs of the Argentine people." —Wasafiri

Best books published in Latin America 2017. —New York Times (Español)

"A transformative adventure, wholly romantic and sublime, at times even supernatural in its message of discovery." —Books and Bao

"A thrilling book that has a little of everything that I look for in a novel." —SubText

"10 Best Translated Books 2019" —Books and Bao

Globetrotting: Your sneak preview of books in translation —New York Times

"It’s moving and intelligent and funny and all of it is fun (so much fun)." —Mark Haber, Brazos Bookstore

"Best books dealing with feminism, sisterhood and queerness" —Pagina/12

"With a touch of whimsy, ‘The Adventures of China Iron’ rewrites a historical narrative and renders spaces inclusive." —Daily Star

"Best Books of 2017" —Los inRockuptibles

"20 Best Latin American books 2017" —El País

From the Publisher

10/16/2020

Set in the slum of El Poso in Buenos Aires, this novel tells the story of Quity, a crime reporter for a large newspaper, and her lover, Cleopatra, an enigmatic transvestite ex-prostitute. Cleopatra is convinced that her prayers, devotion, and obsession with the Virgin Mary enable her to act as the conduit to improve life within the slum. She introduces aquaculture to the flood-prone shantytown and transforms the community. Quity decides that Cleopatra, now known as the transvestite saint, is the perfect subject for a book. She could leave the newspaper and return to a life of classical literature. Each chapter is narrated either by Quity or Cleopatra. As the story unfolds, violence takes over; there are clashes between lovers, the police, journalists, children, gangs, thieves, and government officials. In order to develop the land for the rich, authorities destroy El Poso and murder many of its inhabitants. Originally published in Spanish in 2009, this English translation from Riddle is rich in characterization and energy. As with Cabezón Cámara's most recent novel, The Adventures of China Iron, which was short-listed for the 2020 International Booker Prize, Argentina takes center stage, as does the LBGTQ community. Cámara has a powerful voice, one to be taken seriously.—Jacqueline Snider, Toronto

Library Journal