Evelio Rosero

**Stewart** · 24-Nov-2008, 00:13

Evelio Rosero (born March 20 1958) is a Colombian novelist that is completely new to me, discovered by the appearance of The Armies, his first book translated to English, on my book store's World Fiction table.

Having just looked him up, it seems he's been active as a poet, writer, and dramatist since the early eighties, alwayss getting acclaim from many corners, with The Armies (or Los ej?rcitos, to give it is original title), in winning the II Premio Tusquets Editores de Novela in 2006, bringing him to interntional intention. The Armies is currently Recommended by (English) PEN in their writers in translation series.

Not much else I can say on him now, so here's his wiki page.

**Stewart** · 01-Dec-2008, 22:20

There's an interview with Rosero on BookTrust's translated fiction site.

**Liam** · 01-Dec-2008, 23:47

Stewart, this was a really interesting and informative interview.

I gotta say, Rosero has the pain and the suffering of his ill-fated motherland imprinted on his brow.

Even though you did not like his book in the end, would you still say that it faithfully reflects the socio-political reality that Rosero mentions in the interview? Although I haven't personally read The Armies, it seems to me he took it upon himself to be a kind of mirror--at least for a time--of his people and of his land.

**Stewart** · 01-Dec-2008, 23:56

Originally Posted by Liam

Even though you did not like his book in the end, would you still say that it faithfully reflects the socio-political reality that Rosero mentions in the interview? Although I haven't personally read The Armies, it seems to me he took it upon himself to be a kind of mirror--at least for a time--of his people and of his land.

The holding up a lens to Colombia is the best part of the book. It's just the narrator seemed too doddery. Perhaps a lifetime of such ravages will do that to a person in real life, but it doesn't help the clarity of the book.

S. I absolutely love the book's cover!

It was the cover that made me notice the book. I knew nothing of it until it just appeared on the book store's World Fiction table, shining bright.