These writers describe lives that are hard and often brief. People survive on the streets and by their wits - generally with a gun in hand or in their face. Though short on romance, there is love, redemption, and an honest attempt to reflect real places and conditions in these books. Their authors discuss the political, social, and economic forces that have shifted the focus in Latin writing from fantastical to the gritty and urban.
Patricia Mello's (Brazil) novels include The Killer, Inferno, and Black Waltz.
Jorge Franco's (Colombia) first novel won the Ciudad de Pereira National Novel Competition. His novel, Rosario Tijeras, was awarded the Hammett International Prize and has been translated into fourteen languages and successfully adapted into a film.
Daniel Alarcon's (Peru/United States) first novel, Lost City Radio, was published this year. The Britiah journal Granta recently name him one of the Best Young American Novelists.
Guillermo Arriaga (Mexico) is a novelist and screenwriter. His most recent colaboration with Alejandro Gonzalez on the film Babel earned him an Academy Award nomination. His novels include The Night Buffalo, A Sweet Scent of Death, and The Guillotine Squad.