Borges' Treason

The information was unvarnished and covered only a few lines in the International News in brief section. “Fake Chilean Borges Arrested” preached the headline, and bellow it was detailed that “a Chilean man was arrested in front of the Pink House, right in the heart of Buenos Aires, under circumstances in which the man was pretending to be the celebrated Argentinian writer who passed away one week ago, Jorge Luis Borges. Antonio Libur had to read three times the paragraph before having a reaction. He wised up from the morning sunlight that in mid-June is barely warm, left the cement bench he was sat on, and started walking with the folded newspaper under his arm. He realized the news had disturbed him because he was walking scatterbrained, unable to avoid the puddles the rain left during the weekend. His mind was blank. Some images came and couldn’t last longer than a couple of seconds on his memory: Emilia biting a watermelon while the juice was leaking on her neck; A sad Emilia, making balls with breadcrumbs on a wooden table; a bed with scattered sheets, empty, without Emilia. No more than an hour ago since Antonio had left the rented bedroom in that neighborhood full of cats and calm afternoons. He had the idea that on that day his condition as unemployed erudite might suffer a twist.

When Jorge Luis Borges dies, in 1986, Emilia Forch convinces a mediocre actor but famous for his interpretation of the Argentine writer, that he is the real Jorge Luis Borges. This new Borges decides to join the adventure and assumes the role completely. Both leave Chile and settle in Buenos Aires to convince everyone that Borges is still alive. The success of the farce and the love that arises between them will be threatened by the presence of Antonio Libur, Chilean plagiarist writer who travels to the Argentine capital to recover his old girlfriend, Emilia.
The story takes place against the backdrop of an Argentina convulsed by the conquest of the FIFA World Cup by Diego Armando Maradona.
A master in the creation of flesh and blood characters, who at the same time show their small human weaknesses, Marcelo Simonetti dazzled the jury of the Casa de América Award with this novel.

Key points

2005 – Casa de América Award for Innovative Narrative

• The author’s first novel, acclaimed by critics and described as an intelligent, funny, imaginative and well-told story.
• Reissued in Chile by Ediciones de La Lumbre in 2022.

Marcelo Simonetti

2024 – Cuatrogatos Foundation Award
2023, 2020 – IBBY Chile Award, Children/Young Adults Poetry
2014 – Best Literary Works Award, Best Unpublished Storybook
2003 – Santiago Municipal Literature Award