Héctor Libertella (1945–2006) was an

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...

of novels, short stories, and essays.

Life

Libertella was born in

Bahía Blanca Bahía Blanca (; English: ''White Bay''), colloquially referred to by its own local inhabitants as simply Bahía, is a city in the Buenos Aires Province, Buenos Aires province of Argentina, centered on the northwestern end of the eponymous Blanc ...

on 24 August 1945. In addition to writing, he worked in publishing, including at Fondo de Cultura Económica and Monte Ávila, and taught at universities in New York, Mexico, and Buenos Aires. He also worked as a researcher and philologist at the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas de la Argentina (National Council for Scientific and Technical Research of Argentina). He died 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 ...

in October 2006.

Writing

Libertella's first published novel, ''El camino de los hiperbóreos'' (The Road of the Hyperboreans, 1968), won the Premio Paidós. He went on to publish four more novels, together with collections of essays and other works. His final book, ''La leyenda de Jorge Bonino'' (The Legend of Jorge Bonino), appeared posthumously in 2010. Libertella was part of the post-Boom period in Latin American literature, following the 1960s Boom represented by writers such as

Carlos Fuentes Carlos Fuentes Macías (; ; November 11, 1928 – May 15, 2012) was a Mexican novelist and essayist. Among his works are ''The Death of Artemio Cruz'' (1962), '' Aura'' (1962), '' Terra Nostra'' (1975), '' The Old Gringo'' (1985) and '' Christop ...

and

Gabriel García Márquez Gabriel José García Márquez (; 6 March 1927 – 17 April 2014) was a Colombian writer and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo () or Gabito () throughout Latin America. Considered one of the most significant authors of the 20th centur ...

. Together with figures such as

Cesar Aira Cesar or César may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''César'' (film), a 1936 French romantic drama * ''César'' (play), a play by Marcel Pagnolt Places * Cesar, Portugal * Cesar Department, Colombia * Cesar River, in Colombia * Cesar R ...

Copi COPI is a coatomer, a protein complex that coats vesicle (biology), vesicles transporting proteins from the ''cis'' end of the Golgi complex back to the rough endoplasmic reticulum (ER), where they were originally Translation (genetics), synthesi ...

, and Osvaldo Lamborghini, Libertella formed a countercanon of alternative Argentine literature, that rejected serious, well-written, and elite literature for linguistic estrangement and improvisation. Libertella was noted for his interest in radical linguistic innovation and his attempt "to privilege '' écriture'', the ''novela del lenguaje'' (the novel of/about language), as the offspring of the ''Aufhebung'' or sublation of the Boom".

Works published

*''The Road of the Hyperboreans'',

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

, Ed, Buenos Aires, 1968. *''Adventures of Miticistas'', novel, Ed Monte Avila, Caracas, 1971. *''People Fighting Pose'', novel, Ed Corregidor, Buenos Aires, 1975. *''New

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

n Writing,

Essay An essay ( ) is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a Letter (message), letter, a term paper, paper, an article (publishing), article, a pamphlet, and a s ...

'', Ed Monte Avila, Caracas / Buenos Aires, 1977. *''Cavemen! Stories'' Abbat Per Ed, Buenos Aires, 1985. *''The International Tour of the Wicked'', novella, Latin American Publishing Group, Buenos Aires, 1990. *''Tests or Tests on a Tight Network'', essays, Latin American Publishing Group, Buenos Aires, 1990. *''Pathografeia. Diverted Games Literature, Conversations'', Latin American Publishing Group, Buenos Aires, 1991. *''The Sacred Writings, Critical Essays'', Ed Sudamericana, Buenos Aires, 1993. *''Memoirs of a

Demigod A demigod is a part-human and part-divine offspring of a deity and a human, or a human or non-human creature that is accorded divine status after death, or someone who has attained the "divine spark" (divine illumination). An immortality, immor ...

'', novel, Ed Profile, Buenos Aires, 1998. *''The Tree Saussure, Story-

Utopia A utopia ( ) typically describes an imagined community or society that possesses highly desirable or near-perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia (book), Utopia'', which describes a fictiona ...

'', Ed Adriana Hidalgo, Buenos Aires, 2000. *''Literal 1973-1977'', (ed.), Buenos Aires, Santiago Arcos editor, 2002. *''The

Bookseller Bookselling is the commercial trading of books, which is the retail and distribution end of the publishing process. People who engage in bookselling are called booksellers, bookdealers, book people, bookmen, or bookwomen. History The foundi ...

'' Argentina, Cordoba, editor Alcyone, 2003. *''The Legend of Jorge Bonino'', Córdoba, editor Alcyone, 2010

References

People from Bahía Blanca Argentine male writers 2006 deaths 1945 births Burials at La Chacarita Cemetery International Writing Program alumni {{Argentina-writer-stub