Slum Virgin. Cet article n’est pas disponible.Slum Virgin

The slums of Buenos Aires, the government, the mafia, the Virgin Mary, corrupt police officers, prostitutes, transvestites, thieves, drug dealers, cumbia music and debauchery all combine in this sweeping novel deemed to be "a revelation for contemporary literature and pure dynamite" (Andrés Neuman, author of Traveller of the Century and Talking to Ourselves, Pushkin Press).

Slum Virgin tells the larger-than-life story of Cleopatra, a transvestite who renounces prostitution after the Virgin Mary appears before her. Following the divine messages she receives, Cleo 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 steps into the shantytown and finds herself irrevocably seduced by the captivating subject of her article.

The densely-packed, fast-paced prose, which weaves together everyday speech, shantytown slang and classical references, pulls the reader into the story immediately. The author turns phrases with dexterity, refusing to whitewash the reality of the poor and downtrodden, and jumping deftly from tragedy to biting comedy in a way that has the reader laughing out loud.

Slum Virgin was shortlisted for the Silverio Cañada Memorial Prize at the Gijón Detective Week (Spain) and chosen as book of the year by Rolling Stone magazine (Argentina) in 2009.

Gabriela Cabezón Cámara was born in Buenos Aires in 1968. She has published the novel Slum Virgin (known in Spanish as La Virgen Cabeza, 2009), the novellas Le viste la cara a Dios (You ve Seen God s Face, 2011), and La Isla de la Luna (Island of the Moon, 2012). She has also published the comic Beya, le viste la cara a Dios (Biutiful, You've Seen God's Face), based on the former text and illustrated by Iñaki Echeverría (2013). In 2014 she published the novel Romance de la Negra Rubia (Romance of the Black Blonde) and the following year she produced Sacrificios (Sacrifices), edited by the Argentinian National Library for the Bicentenary Collection. Also in 2015 her book of stories, Y su despojo fue una muchedumbre (And Her Waste Was a Crowd) came out, illustrated once again by Iñaki Echeverría. In 2013 she was writer in residence at UC Berkeley, where she also taught. She was one of the founders of the NiUnaMenos (Not One Less) movement against femicides and gender violence.