The Peruvian writer presents “Words from The Other Side,” a novel about migrant movements and identity, for which he obtained the Premio de Novela Alcobendas Juan Goytisolo.

Winner of the Alcobendas Juan Goytisolo Award for his work Palabras del otro lado (Words from the Other Side),” and published by Galaxia Gutenberg, author Alonso Cueto (Lima, Peru 1954) competed against 900  plus submitted works.  This is a story about migrant movements and the building of identity. 

 We follow Aurora (the novel’s main character) through her journey in search of her biological father after her mother reveals his true identity right before her death.  A journey that will take her from Lima (Perú) all the way to Madrid (Spain)  – a city where the author himself lived in the late 70s.  In his work, Alonso Cueto builds an action story through the adventures lived by Aurora.  “There is nothing more difficult than to tell a story,” Cueto reflects, “It is easy to write a good novel, but what is difficult is to tell a story; measure the intrigue, where facts and seeds are planted that will be developed later on and manage the promises of revelations .

 A novel should be an exploration, and because of that, it should tell a story, that among other things, must be understood.”

Read the interview in its original language here: El Cultural