Andrés Neuman

Neuman at the 2016 Texas Book Festival

Andrés Neuman (born January 28, 1977) is a Spanish-Argentine writer, poet, translator, columnist and blogger.

The son of Argentine inmigrants musicians, he was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina to a mother of Italian and Spanish descent and a father of German-Jewish descent. He spent his childhood in Buenos Aires, although he currently lives in Granada, Spain. He has a degree in Spanish Philology from the University of Granada, where he also taught Latin American literature. He holds both Argentine and Spanish citizenships.

Through a vote called by the Hay Festival, Neuman was selected among the most outstanding young Latin American authors, being included on the Bogotá39 list . He was also selected by Granta magazine in Spanish and English as one of the 22 Best of Young Spanish-Language Novelists.^[1][2] His fourth novel, the award-winning Traveller of the Century, first to be published in English, was selected among the best books of the year by The Guardian , The Independent and Financial Times . This novel was also shortlisted for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize,^[3] achieving a Special Commendation from the jury; as well as shortlisted for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award,^[4] being named one of "the two frontrunners who so sure-footedly outpaced the strong pack", according to an article written by the jury for The Guardian. His next book translated into English was the novel Talking to Ourselves,^[5] longlisted for the Best Translated Book Award , shortlisted for the Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize , and selected as number 1 among the Top 20 books of the year by Typographical Era.^[6] His most recent work translated into English, the collection of stories The Things We Don't Do.,^[7] was longlisted for the Best Translated Book Award and won the Firecracker Award for fiction, given by the Community of Literary Magazines and Presses with the American Booksellers Association.

In one of the essays of his book Entre paréntesis (Between Parentheses), the Chilean writer Roberto Bolaño stated about Neuman: "He has a gift. No good reader will fail to perceive in these pages something that can only be found in great literature, that which is written by true poets. The literature of the twenty-first century will belong to Neuman and to a handful of his blood brothers".^[8]

Awards and honours

• 1999 First Finalist in the Herralde Prize for his first novel, Bariloche,^[9] which was selected as one of the best ten novels of the year by El Cultural,^[10] the literary supplement of the national newspaper El Mundo.
• 2002 Hiperión Prize of poetry for El tobogán (2002).^[11]
• 2009 Alfaguara Prize for El viajero del siglo (Traveller of the Century, 2009).^[12] This book was selected as one of the five best novels of the year published in Spanish language, in two different votes: one called by the national newspaper El País among 50 critics and journalists and another one called by the national newspaper El Mundo .
• 2009 National Critics Prize: Premio de la Crítica Española for El viajero del siglo (Traveler of the Century).^[13]
• 2013 Independent Foreign Fiction Prize shortlist for Traveller of the Century (Nick Caistor & Lorenza Garcia; Spanish; Pushkin Press).^[14]
• 2013 Special Commendation from the Jury of the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize for Traveller of the Century.^[15]
• 2013 Best Translated Book Award longlist for Traveler of the Century.^[16]
• 2014 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award shortlist for Traveller of the Century (Nick Caistor & Lorenza Garcia; Spanish; Pushkin Press and Farrar, Straus and Giroux).^[17]
• 2015 Best Translated Book Award longlist for Talking to Ourselves.^[18]
• 2015 Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize shortlist for Talking to Ourselves.^[19]
• 2016 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award longlist for Talking to Ourselves (Nick Caistor & Lorenza Garcia; Spanish; Pushkin Press and Farrar, Straus and Giroux).^[20]
• 2016 Best Translated Book Award longlist for The Things We Don't Do.^[21]
• 2016 Firecracker Award for The Things We Don't Do.^[22]

List of works

Novels

• Bariloche (1999). Barcelona: Anagrama. ISBN 84-339-2444-3. Paperback edition, 2008, ISBN 978-84-339-7314-6. First Finalist in the Herralde Prize.
• La vida en las ventanas (2002) (Life in the Windows). Madrid: Espasa-Calpe. ISBN 84-670-0127-5. First Finalist in the Primavera Prize.
• Una vez Argentina (2003) (Once Argentina). Barcelona: Anagrama. ISBN 84-339-6853-X. First Finalist in the Herralde Prize.
• El viajero del siglo (2009) (Traveller of the Century). Madrid: Alfaguara. ISBN 978-84-204-2235-0. Alfaguara Prize and National Critics Prize.
• Hablar solos (2012) (Talking to Ourselves). Madrid: Alfaguara. ISBN 978-84-204-0329-8.

Poetry

• Métodos de la noche (1998) (Night Methods). Madrid: Ediciones Hiperión. ISBN 84-7517-617-8. Antonio Carvajal Young Poetry Prize.
• El jugador de billar (2000) (The Pool Player). Valencia: Editorial Pre-Textos. ISBN 84-8191-353-7.
• El tobogán (2002) (The Toboggan). Madrid: Ediciones Hiperión. ISBN 84-7517-727-1. Hiperión Poetry Prize.
• Mística abajo (2008) (Down Mystic). Barcelona: Editorial Acantilado. ISBN 978-84-96834-40-8.
• Década. Poesía 1997-2007 (2008) (Decade. Poetry 1997-2007). Barcelona: Editorial Acantilado. ISBN 978-84-96834-82-8.
• No sé por qué y Patio de locos (2013). Valencia: Editorial Pre-Textos. 978-84-15576-47-1.

Short stories

• El que espera (2000) (The One Who Waits). Barcelona: Anagrama. ISBN 84-339-2461-3.
• El último minuto (2001) (The Last Minute). Madrid: Espasa. ISBN 84-239-2623-0. New edition by Páginas de Espuma (Madrid, 2007, ISBN 978-84-8393-001-4).
• Alumbramiento (2006) (Birth). Madrid: Páginas de Espuma. ISBN 84-95642-85-9.
• Hacerse el muerto (2011) (Playing Dead). Madrid: Páginas de Espuma. ISBN 978-84-8393-066-3.

Others

• Die Winterreise of Wilhelm Müller (2003) (Viaje de invierno, Winter Journey translation from German to Spanish). Barcelona: Editorial Acantilado. ISBN 84-96136-23-X.
• El equilibrista (2005) (The Tightrope Walker, aphorisms). Barcelona: Editorial Acantilado. ISBN 84-96489-07-8.
• Cómo viajar sin ver. Latinoamérica en tránsito (2010) (How to Travel Without Seeing. Latin America in Transit, travel book). Madrid: Alfaguara. ISBN 978-84-204-0608-4.

English translations

• Traveller of the Century (2012, UK, Pushkin Press). 978-1906548667 . Translated by Nick Caistor and Lorenza García.
• Traveler of the Century (2012, USA, Farrar, Straus and Giroux). 978-0374119393 . Translated by Nick Caistor and Lorenza García.
• Talking to Ourselves (2014, UK, Pushkin Press). 978-1782270553 . Translated by Nick Caistor and Lorenza García.
• Talking to Ourselves (2014, USA, Farrar, Straus and Giroux). 978-0374167530 . Translated by Nick Caistor and Lorenza García.
• The Things We Don't Do (2014, UK, Pushkin Press). 978-1782270737 . Translated by Nick Caistor and Lorenza García.
• The Things We Don't Do (2015, US, Open Letter Books). 978-1-940953-18-2 . Translated by Nick Caistor and Lorenza García.
• How to Travel without Seeing: Dispatches from the New Latin America (2016, US, Restless Books). 978-1632060556 . Translated by Jeffrey Lawrence.

References

1. The New York Times article: Granta names 22 Best of Young Spanish Language Novelists .
2. Granta 113. The Best of Young Spanish Language Novelists
3. Booktrust: A steamy tale of love between two translators makes the shortlist for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize
4. Ten books shortlisted for the 2014 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award .
5. The New York Times article: Andres Neuman's new novel is Talking to Ourselves .
6. Best Read in 2014: A Top 20 Year-End List .
7. Review of The Things We Don't Do. We Love This Book.
8. Bolaño, Roberto: Entre paréntesis (Between Parentheses), Anagrama, Barcelona, 2004, page 149. English edition: Between Parentheses, translated by Natasha Wimmer. New Directions, USA, 2011.
9. Basanta, Ángel: Review of Bariloche, El Mundo, 19 December 1999 .
10. "The Ten Nobels of 2000", El Mundo, 28 June 2009 .
11. List of winners of the Hiperión Poetry Prize es:Premio Hiperión
12. García Posada, Miguel: "La hora de la consagración", ABC, 18 July 2009 .
13. El País news: Andrés Neuman gana el premio de la crítica .
14. Booktrust: A steamy tale of love between two translators makes the shortlist for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize .
15. The Independent news: Special commendation: A home for imagination .
16. 2013 Best Translated Book Award Fiction Longlist .
17. Ten books shortlisted for the 2014 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award .
18. Why This Book Should Win – by BTBA Judge Jeremy Garber .
19. Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize 2015: Shortlist Announced .
20. 2016 nominees for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award .
21. Flavorwire: Who wrote the best translated book of 2016? .
22. 2016 Firecracker Award Winners .

External links

• Official website (some English texts)
• Review of Traveller of the Century in The Independent
• Review of Traveller of the Century in The Guardian
• Review of Traveler of the Century in The L Magazine
• Short story in Words Without Borders
• Interview in Untitled Books
• Interview in Latineos. Latin America, Caribbean, arts & culture
• PRISA News about the Alfaguara Prize
• "Conquering Displacement With Words" by Valerie Miles in The New York Times
• Audio Interview with Michael Cathcart ABC Radio
• Review of Talking to Ourselves in The Guardian
• Review of Talking to Ourselves in The Independent
• Review of Talking to Ourselves in Upcoming4.me