Episode 263 with Fernanda Trias, Author of Mugre Rosa/Pink Slime, and Acute and Detail-Oriented World Builder and Creator of Thought-Provoking Fiction

Notes and Links to Fernanda Trías’ Work

   Fernanda Trías was born in Uruguay and is the award-winning author of three novels, two of which have been published in English. She is also the author of the short story collection No soñarás flores and the chapbook El regreso. A writer and instructor of creative writing, she holds an MFA in creative writing from New York University. She was awarded the National Uruguayan Literature Prize, The Critics’ Choice Award Bartolomé Hidalgo, and the Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz International Prize in Mexico for her novel Pink Slime. Both The Rooftop and Pink Slime were awarded the British PEN Translates Award, and Pink Slime was chosen by The New York Times in Spanish as one of the ten best books of 2020. Translation rights for her work have been sold in fifteen languages. She currently lives in Bogotá, Colombia, where she is a teacher at the creative writing MFA program of Instituto Caro y Cuervo. In 2017, she was selected as Writer-in-Residence at the Casa de Velázquez in Madrid, where she started writing her latest novel, Pink Slime.

Buy Pink Slime

Fernanda Trias' Publisher Page for Simon and Schuster

Review of Pink Slime from Reactor Mag

At about 2:00, Pete and Fernanda discuss the book’s Spanish and English titles and different subtleties of each; Fernanda details how she decided to title the book as she dd

At about 3:20, Annie McDermott, Episode 91 and Mario Levrero shout outs!

At about 4:00, Fernanda discusses her reading life growing up, the ways in which better translations slowly came to Uruguay, and reading 

At about 6:45, Fernanda talks about respect for Garcia Marquez, though not being a huge fan, and cites Juan Rulfo as “perfección”

At about 8:15, Pete expands on a Rulfo favorite of his, “No Oyes Ladrar los Perros,” and Fernanda expands on her love of Rulfo’s Pedro Paramo 

At about 10:05, Fernanda talks about favorite contemporary authors, like Herta Muller and Olga Tokarczuk 

At about 12:00, Pete shouts out Jennifer Croft, and Fernanda responds to Pete’s questions about why there is such a affinity for Eastern European writing in Latin América, and she specifies the Río Plata region as connected 

At about 14:55, Fernanda describes her familial connections to Europe-particularly Italy and Spain

At about 17:15, Fernanda responds to Pete’s question about seeds for her writing life

At about 19:05, Fernanda references The Stranger and El Lugar by Levrero as chill-inducing books

At about 21:30, Pete is complimentary of Fernanda’s worldbuilding, and she expands on what she loves about it

At about 23:00, Pete and Fernanda discuss translation in her book, especially of colloquialisms like “ni fu ni fa”

At about 26:25, Fernanda responds to Pete’s question about climate change and other stimuli for Mugre Rosa/Pink Slime

At about 28:50, Pete mentions the book’s interesting dialogues that complement the action, and Fernanda expands on the evolving dialogues  

At about 30:50, Fernanda talks about the book’s opening and the “first image” in her mind of a foggy port