The Dangers of Smoking in Bed

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of graphic violence and death.



Mariana Enriquez is one of Argentina’s best-known contemporary writers, and her work is emblematic of the so-called nueva narrativa argentina or Argentinian new wave. This type of literature is produced by writers born in the 1970s, during Argentina’s last military dictatorship that lasted from 1976 to 1983. During this time of state-sponsored terror, an estimated 30,000 people were disappeared by the government, which committed numerous human rights violations. Writers like Enriquez, Samanta Schweblin (the author of Fever Dream), Agustina Bazterrica (the author of Tender is the Flesh), Gabriela Cabezón Cámara (who wrote The Adventures of China Iron), Selva Almada, and Federico Falco grew up during the dictatorship and its immediate aftermath. Much of their work offers social and political commentary on contemporary Argentina, exploring themes of collective memory and trauma.

Argentina has always had a strong short story tradition as well as writers who are interested in incorporating the surreal and fantastic into their work. Jorge Luis Borges (author of the short story “The Aleph”) and Julio Cortázar (who wrote “