Ángel Bonomini (13 October 1929 – 13 May 1994) was an Argentine short story writer, poet, and translator, best known for his novella '' The Novices of Lerna''.

Biography

Bonomini was born in Buenos Aires on 13 October 1929. At the age of 18, he published his first collection of poetry, ''Primera enunciación'', in the magazine '' Sur''. In 1952, alongside

María Elena Walsh María Elena Walsh (1 February 1930 – 10 January 2011) was an Argentine poet, novelist, musician, playwright, writer and composer, mainly known for her songs and books for children. Her work includes many of the most popular children's books ...

, his then-girlfriend, published the poetry collection ''Argumento del enamorado. Báladas con Ángel''. From 1955 to 1961, he was an editor of ''LIFE'' magazine, where he translated texts into Spanish. He was an art critic for the Argentine monthly ''Panorama'' between 1968 and 1970, and for ''

La Nación ''La Nación'' () is an Argentine daily newspaper. As the country's leading conservative newspaper, ''La Nación''s main competitor is the more liberal ''Clarín (Argentine newspaper), Clarín''. It is regarded as a newspaper of record for Argen ...

'' between 1970 and 1978. His most well-known story is ''The Novices of Lerna'', published in 1972 in a short story collection of the same name, which was praised by

Borges Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo ( ; ; 24 August 1899 – 14 June 1986) was an Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator regarded as a key figure in Spanish-language and international literature. His best-known w ...

and Bioy Casares. He won a

Fulbright Grant The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people o ...

in 1974 and the

Konex Award Konex Foundation Awards, or simply Konex Awards, are cultural awards from the Konex Foundation honouring Argentine cultural personalities. History and purpose Konex Awards are granted by the Konex Foundation, created in 1980 in Argentina. The p ...

in 1984 and 1994. Despite praise during his lifetime, Bonomini was mostly forgotten after his death.

Works

During his lifetime, Bonomini wrote 90 short stories and 8 poem anthologies. His early works were in the

neoromantic The term neo-romanticism is used to cover a variety of movements in philosophy, literature, music, painting, and architecture, as well as social movements, that exist after and incorporate elements from the era of Romanticism. It has been used ...

style, however, he distanced himself from the style later on. Similarities to

have been noted in his work. His later work dealt with the metaphysical and the mystical, and is described as fantastical literature. He influenced the work of

Alberto Manguel Alberto Manguel (born March 13, 1948, in Buenos Aires) is an Argentine Canadian, Argentine-Canadian anthologist, translator, essayist, novelist, editor, and a former director of the National Library of Argentina. He is a cosmopolitan and polyglo ...

. Several of his stories were translated and published in English in 1989, in Italian in 1982, 1983, 1989, and 1997; and in German in 1974 and 1989. In 2004, his story ''Lentos Elefantes de Milan'' was published in French. In 2015, the Spanish publishing house

Editorial Pre-Textos An editorial, or leading article (UK) or leader (UK), is an Article (publishing), article or any other written document, often unsigned, written by the editorial board, senior editorial people or publisher of a newspaper or magazine, that expre ...

published an edited anthology of his poetry collection ''Torres para el silencio y otros poemas''; in 2017, Pre-Textos published a complete anthology of his short stories titled ''Todos parecían soñar'' in 2017, under the supervision of

. In 2024, an English translation by Jordan Landsman of several of his short stories, including ''The Novices of Lerna'', was published. The collection received mostly positive reviews.

Natasha Wimmer Natasha Wimmer (born 1973) is an American translator best known for her translations of Chilean novelist Roberto Bolaño's '' 2666'' and '' The Savage Detectives'' from Spanish into English. Biography Natasha Wimmer grew up in Iowa. She learned ...

praised ''The Novices of Lerna'' and the "timeless spirit" of his stories, but felt that other stories in the collection were dated. Kirkus Reviews called the collection "A beguiling blend of the cerebral and the visceral." Tobias Carroll, writing for Reactor Magazine, called the collection "welcome addition to Argentinian literature in translation." One review from Asymptote Journal praised his lyrical style of writing. John Self of ''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are often names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * The Telegraph (Adelaide), ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaid ...

'' praised ''The Novices of Lerna'' as a "bizarre and brilliant" novella, and

Stuart Evers Stuart Evers is a British novelist, short story writer and critic, born in Macclesfield, Cheshire in 1976. He was brought up in Congleton, Cheshire. In late 2017, Evers was announced as the joint winner of the 2018 Eccles British Library Writer' ...

, writing for

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British political and cultural news magazine. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving magazine in the world. ''The Spectator'' is politically conservative, and its principal subject a ...

, gave a more mixed review, criticizing the novella for not fully exploring the themes presented, but praising it as a "powerful story...hauntingly intelligent and psychically unnerving".

References

External links

Jordan Landsman on translating Ángel Bonomini into EnglishEnglish translation of Bonomini's short story ''The Bengal Tiger''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bonomini, Ángel 1929 births 1994 deaths 20th-century Argentine short story writers 20th-century Argentine male writers 20th-century Argentine poets Argentine male poets Writers from Buenos Aires Argentine male short story writers 20th-century Argentine translators