“After a brief wait and introductory drinks at the Teatro Coliseo, the news arrived: the winner of the Clarín Prize for the Novel is Carlos Bernatek, a writer born in Avellaneda in 1955 who currently works for the National Library.

The name of the novel is El canario (The Canary), also the nickname of Maidana, the central character. El canario explores the recent past of Argentina, the dark days of the Years of Lead. The theme recurs at intervals because Maidana accidentally finds himself conscripted to work at ESMA, the military school used by the regime to torture detainees, and forced to witness the terrible things that go on there. He manages to get out but is scarred for life. The story is told by the narrator, Javier, a man who went into exile in Brazil and now returns to Argentina in the 80s to find a depressing country where cafés have been turned into parking lots.”

Translation by The Spanish Bookstage

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