British discretion took Argentine novelist and screenwriter Claudia Piñeiro by surprise.

The renowned author was recently in the UK for the London Book Fair. Invited as one of the International Authors of the Day, she was expecting the usual load of questions she gets abroad. Namely, what is the current state of culture and women rights in Argentina under President Javier Milei, who has verbally targeted intellectuals, artists, feminists, and the LGBTIQ community in his “culture war.” 

The questions, however, didn’t come as naturally as other places.

“I guess that’s a bit of a British characteristic, that discretion, because if the subject does happen to emerge, then they get quickly interested,” she told the Herald.

Best known for her worldwide best-selling crime novels, Piñeiro has also written successful TV series for streaming platforms, such as The Kingdom. Once described as the “Hitchcock of the River Plate”, many of her stories have also been adapted for the big screen, including Netflix’s Elena Knows (published in English by Charco Press). 

Piñeiro, who was a finalist for the Booker International Prize in 2022, is also a keen observer of social and political dynamics. Her novels usually tap into issues of maternity and its social impositions, as well as women’s rights. She makes regular media appearances in Argentina  commenting on the country’s social issues. In 2020, she became a crucial figure within the women’s movement during the massive campaign that led to legalizing abortion in Argentina.

Piñeiro spoke on the phone with the Herald about her latest book, the situation in Argentina’s publishing industry, and why she has no patience for people trying to justify Milei based on alleged misdeeds from the previous government. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

You’ve had several literary events in London aside from the Fair. What has the experience with your English-speaking readers been like?

It’s interesting, because only a small percentage of books sold here are translations. Somewhere between 3 and 4%. So, all of us go into that 3 or 4%, from all over the world. So you kind of have to push your way through to get there. It’s tough. 

I was at an  event in a bookshop organized by a reading group called Book Blast and people were bringing like three books for me to sign. There were a lot of British people who know the books and Charco’s catalog in general, who are particularly looking for Latin American authors. And that made me very happy. Just like the fact they chose me for the Fair, because it’s the first time an international author at the fair is a Spanish-speaking one. And I had the honor and luck to be chosen.

Your latest book is not a fiction but a compendium of articles. Do you feel there is something epochal going on that is sort of pushing the first-person narrative to the front line?

I hadn’t felt it as a need. I don’t write autofiction, but I did notice that readers appreciated it. That surprised me. When my editor suggested the book I thought: ‘Who could possibly be interested in what I have to say about a certain topic?’ And the response was great. People were keen to get to know the person behind the fiction. Some friends, writers and journalists, told me that they felt it was an autofiction book. I told them I don’t write autofiction, and they said ‘Well, but I see you in this book’. And I always tell a story I find so funny. Many of my books deal with motherhood and there is a harsh perspective on certain aspects or social impositions on maternity, right? Well, a journalist read the book and told me she would have never imagined that I had children and actually took care of them (laughs).

The book market in Argentina went through a crisis last year. Some established bookshops closed and publishing houses reduced their publications or the amount of printed copies per title. What does the scene look like from the writers’ perspective? 

The authors I know are writing. You don’t quit writing because you don’t know if your books will get published or not. But yes, the environment is in turmoil, because of a certain kind of violence and aggression towards it. There are also economic concerns. I have colleagues who can’t make ends meet and can’t put food on the table. The situation is that serious. I have never before seen colleagues who are professionals and have always had ways of getting by, like teaching or consulting, being unable to afford basic expenses.

You said you get a lot of questions about rights in Argentina in your book presentations abroad. How do you usually describe the situation?

I’ve been through different stages. When this government began, I tried to be quite respectful of the choice the people made regarding their representatives. Even though I’ve disagreed from the very beginning with this government’s policies and what they are transmitting, well, I could always be wrong. And if so many people think this is the best thing for Argentina, I have to be respectful of that situation. But now, after so many things we’ve seen, I’ve somewhat lost that respect. Because I can’t respect people who tell me that “Kirchnerism was worse” every time  the president says the things he says about women and LGBTIQ groups. That really angers me. You hear journalists and politicians and representatives and senators who can’t say two full sentences without using the word “Kirchnerism” to constantly justify the unjustifiable.

The government appears to be somewhat obsessed with their image abroad. Do you think foreign readers and audiences have an accurate understanding of what is going on in the country? Or are there things you notice they are not seeing?

We were like an exotic country until Trump came along, with an exotic man who came out waving a chainsaw. Since it didn’t affect them, U.S residents probably thought it would never happen to them. Even in European countries, where only a few months ago the far right didn’t seem so strong, the tone was like “You poor things, what a shame what’s happening. It’ll pass.” And I’d tell them that it was not going to pass and that it was going to reach them as well. My feeling was that this was the beginning of a wave and they weren’t seeing that a global cycle was coming. Trump confirmed this and now I think they’ve understood that this wasn’t just a strange event that will pass, but rather a part of a process that may reach other places.

You recently wrote an op-ed arguing that, within this hostile context for the women’s movement, the strategy should also include saving energy and resisting while waiting for this wave to pass. 

I said that, but I’m also pretty out there in a way. I mean, I must be among the writers who speak out the most about these issues. There are others who take much better care of themselves than I do. But it seems to me that you can’t ask everyone to take the same risks. I mean, if retirees are going to get beaten when they protest, you can’t tell them to go out anyway.

There are things that others should have done, like ensuring that the government doesn’t appoint two Supreme Court judges without going through the necessary procedures — and ignoring the fundamental issue: that they should have been women. That’s not our fault. And then when they come to me and say, “So, go out to the streets and fight for this,” I answer, “And why did you give him extraordinary powers? And why didn’t you stop it in Congress?” What I meant in that article is that we don’t have to put our heads out there to get beaten down, but we have to do everything necessary to stop certain things. 

Such as?

I think that when the president expressed his ideas about feminism and LGBTIQ groups at Davos, we decided that that was a battle we had to fight. An extraordinary number of people took to the streets. Now, if we take to the streets every time the president says something against women, we’re going to wear ourselves out. That’s what I’m saying.

And looking ahead, what do you think the feminist movement should be planning on in terms of course-correcting after the tsunami is over?

The first thing I hope is for that to happen during my life. I am 64 years-old and I want to see the end of this phase. I wouldn’t like to go through the last years of my life within this period, which is absolutely dark to me. The best things I’ve seen in recent years have always been cross-party movements. I’m not a member of any political party, but I was sitting at a table with representatives and senators from all political parties when we passed the abortion law in Argentina. They all worked together. Today, I see many of those same women saying outrageous things. So, the only way we’ll emerge from this with better public education, better healthcare, better rights for people, for LGBTIQ+ groups, for women, etc., is we put aside partisan disputes.