Andrea Jeftanovic
Andrea Jeftanovic is a Chilean writer. Born in Santiago in 1970, she is considered one of the most prominent authors of her country. She is the author of the novels Escenario de Guerra (2000) and Geografía de la lengua (Love in a Foreign Language, 2007), and of two volumes of short stories: No aceptes caramelos de extraños (Don’t Take Candy from Strangers, 2013) and Destinos errantes (2016). Of Jewish and Serbian ancestry, Jeftanovic grew up among three religions – Russian Orthodox, Catholic and Jewish. She studied sociology at the Catholic University in Santiago de Chile and in 2005 she finished a PhD in Latin American Literature at the University of California, Berkeley. Jeftanovic is not afraid of controversy, and sees art as ‘a space for moral experimentation’. She has received several awards, including the Chilean Art Critics Circle Award and the National Book and Reading Council Award. Her work has been translated into several languages and it appears in international as well as Chilean anthologies. Jeftanovic is a regular contributor to Quimera Magazine, Letras Libres, and El Mercurio. Theatre of War is her debut novel and her first book to appear in English.
“Escribe la frase, sólo te pido eso. Y el se anima a vaciar su pena en un archipiélago atiborrado de cristales de sal. Por un instante pienso que te amo, pero es una sensación efímera como una ola. Una masa de agua que crece con fuerza, pero luego se recoge, estalla y ya no existe. Una barca expulsada a los orígenes. La muda miseria existente bajo el sol.”