Mariana Enríquez in online conversation with Laura Fernández

Mariana Enríquez is one of the most important literary phenomena of recent times. A profoundly original writer, she has redefined the terms of the horror genre in Spanish, moving away from the usual patterns, to delve into the monstrosity and the fear that real situations and characters can cause. Social critique is also concealed in her work: bureaucracy, corruption, the people who disappeared during the dictatorship... Those are the ghosts that nurture her work. In her words: “Any real horror is equally or more terrifying than anything we can imagine”. Dave Eggers has said about her: “A fascinating writer you just have to read... Her fiction hits us with the force of a freight train”.

Mariana Enríquez (Buenos Aires, 1973) is a journalist, deputy editor of the Radar supplement to the Página/12 newspaper, and a teacher. She has written novels, travel stories, profiles and collections of short stories. Her work includes the novels “Things We Lost in the Fire” (Anagrama, 2017), published in twenty countries and winner of the Ciutat de Barcelona Prize; “The Dangers of Smoking in Bed” (Anagrama, 2017); “Our Part of Night”, winner of the Herralde Novel Prize and the Critique Prize and “Someone Walks Over Your Grave” (Anagrama, 2021) and the essay “The Younger Sister, a Portrait of Silvina Ocampo” (Anagrama, 2018). She was a finalist of the 2021 International Booker Prize.

Laura Fernández (Terrassa, 1981) is the author of five novels: “Welcome to Welcome” (Elipsis 2008/Literatura Random House, 2019), “Wendolin Kramer” (Seix Barral, 2011), “The Zombie Girl” (Seix Barral, 2013), “The Grossman Show” (Aristas Martínez, 2013) and “Connerland” (Literatura Random House, 2017). Her work has been translated into French and Italian and her short stories have been included in numerous anthologies. Laura Fernández is also a journalist and a literary and musical critic, as well as a passionate interviewer of writers. She writes mainly for El País, although in the past she has collaborated with countless media outlets.