Angélica Gorodischer (28 July 1928 – 5 February 2022) was an Argentine writer whose short stories and novels belong to a wide variety of genres, including

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

, and

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definiti ...

. Her literature has a

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

perspective.

Biography

Gorodischer was born in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

on 28 July 1928. She lived in

Rosario Rosario () is the largest city in the central provinces of Argentina, Argentine province of Santa Fe Province, Santa Fe. The city, located northwest of Buenos Aires on the west bank of the Paraná River, is the third-most populous city in the ...

from the age of eight, and the city appeared very frequently in her work. In 2007 the city council of Rosario awarded her the title of Illustrious Citizen. In the English-speaking world, Gorodischer might be best known for ''Kalpa Imperial'' (In Argentina volume 1 appeared in 1983 and both volumes by 1984). A collection of short stories, it details the history of a vast imaginary empire through tales of fantasy, fable, and

allegory As a List of narrative techniques, literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a wikt:narrative, narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a meaning with moral or political signi ...

. Its English translation by notable United States speculative fiction author

Ursula K. Le Guin Ursula Kroeber Le Guin ( ; Kroeber; October 21, 1929 – January 22, 2018) was an American author. She is best known for her works of speculative fiction, including science fiction works set in her Hainish universe, and the ''Earthsea'' fantas ...

was published by Small Beer Press in 2003. A part of the translated work appeared in the American anthology ''Starlight 2''. She also produced many works before ''Kalpa Imperial'', including the collections ''Opus dos'' pus two, 1967 ''Bajo las jubeas en flor'' nder the Flowering Jubeas,1973 and ''Casta Luna Electrónica'' haste Electric Moon, 1977 She was a science fiction author noted for her work on the inequality of power between men and women. She focused on powerful people and corrupt rulers in her writing. Gorodischer was author of two novels within the genre of

detective fiction Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an criminal investigation, investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around ...

. Her detective character is a grand dame who reluctantly and haphazardly engages in the world of international intrigue, making her debut in her 1985 novella entitled ''Floreros de alabastro, alfombras de Bokhara'', which won the Emecé Literary Prize (1984–85) by unanimous decision. This detective character reappeared later in a different form in ''Jugo de mango'' (1988). Angélica Gorodischer died on 5 February 2022, at the age of 93.

Novels

* ''Opus dos''. Buenos Aires: Ediciones Minotauro, 1967. * ''Kalpa imperial''. Buenos Aires: Ediciones Minotauro, 1983. * ''Floreros de alabastro, alfombras de Bokhara''. Lyndhurst, NJ: Lectorum Publications, 1985. * ''Jugo de mango''. Buenos Aires: Emecé Editores, 1988. * ''Fábula de la virgen y el bombero''. Buenos Aires: Editiones de la Flor, 1993. * ''Mujeres de palabra''. San Juan: University of Puerto Rico Press, 1994. * ''Prodigios''. Barcelona: Ed. Lumen, 1994. * ''La noche del inocente''. Buenos Aires: Emecé Editores, 1996. * * ''Tumba de jaguares''. Buenos Aires: Emecé Editores, 2005. * * *

Collections

* ''Cuentos con soldados''. Santa Fe: Premio Club del Orden, 1965. * ''Las pelucas''. Buenos Aires: Editorial Sudamericana, 1968. * ''Bajo las jubeas en flor''. Buenos Aires: Ediciones De La Flor, 1973. * ''Casta luna electrónica''. Buenos Aires: Ediciones Andrómeda, 1977. * ''Trafalgar''. El Cid Editor, Buenos Aires, 1979. * ''Mala noche y parir hembra''. Buenos Aires: Ediciones La Campana, 1983. * ''Las repúblicas''. Buenos Aires: Ediciones de la Flor, 1991. * ''Técnicas de supervivencia''. Rosario: Ed. Municipal Rosario, 1994. * ''Cómo triunfar en la vida''. Buenos Aires: Emecé, 1998. * ''Las nenas.'' Buenos Aires: Emecé, 2016

Translations into English

* "The End of a Dynasty." Chapter from ''Kalpa Imperial''. Translated by

. In ''Starlight 2''. Edited by Patrick Nielsen Hayden. New York: Tor, 1999. *''Kalpa Imperial: The Greatest Empire That Never Was''. Translated by

. Small Beer Press, 2003. *''Trafalgar''. Translated by Amalia Gladhart. Small Beer Press, 2013. *''Prodigies''. Translated by Sue Burke. Small Beer Press, 2015. *''Jaguars' Tomb''. Translated by Amalia Gladhart. Vanderbilt University Press, 2021. Vanderbilt University Press website: https://www.vanderbilt.edu/university-press/book/9780826501400

See

* Argentine writers

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gorodischer, Angelica 1928 births 2022 deaths People from Rosario, Santa Fe Argentine science fiction writers Women science fiction and fantasy writers World Fantasy Award–winning writers Argentine women novelists Writers from Buenos Aires International Writing Program alumni Argentine feminist writers