Nélida Piñon in New York

Last night I visited the Americas Society, located in a beautiful brick “house” on 68th Street and Park Avenue. The highly acclaimed author Nélida Piñon was there with renowned literary translator Gregory Rabassa. They sat across from each other, at the front of an extremely elegant room, and had a very interesting conversation. Mr. Rabassa posed a number of great questions for Piñon about her new novel, Vozes do Deserto, which has just been translated into English (Voices of the Desert) by Clifford E. Landers. Set in the royal court of thirteenth-century Baghdad, the novel explores the legend of Scheherazade, the legendary Persian queen and the storyteller of One Thousand and One Nights.

In Vozes do Deserto, Piñon transports us from the Caliph’s private sanctum to the crowded streets of the forbidden marketplace, to the high seas of imagination, and to Scheherazade’s innermost life, as she weaves her tales night after night.  Nélida Piñon explained that she set her book in Baghdad only after having read the Koran three times and becoming deeply acquainted with the geography and history of Baghdad, the city built by Mohammad’s children.

At the Americas Society, Ms. Piñon spoke about her love of writing and creating stories. She said that “you are what you create,” that she is part of Scherezade and that Scherezade has become a part of her. She believes that there is a certain arrogance in the art of creating, because if you aren’t a little arrogant then you might think anyone could write your novel. She said that after she finishes a book, she doesn’t dwell on its characters or plot, she moves on to the future, always thinking of her next book.

When Mr. Rabassa asked Ms. Piñon for her opinions about fiction, she said that as a reader you have

to believe the author. You shouldn’t fight a novel; you should allow yourself to be infiltrated by the mystery of a novel. Machado de Assis is one of Piñon’s favorite writers because he accomplished the art of ambiguity. In his most famous work, Dom Casmurro, Machado painted such an ambiguous picture of the love-triangle between Capitú and Dom

Casmurro’s best friend, that 100 years after Machado’s death readers are still debating whether or not Capitú betrayed Dom Casmurro. The enigmatic is sublime, and Machado de Assis was a master of enigma, leaving readers in doubt because his author is such a sad, unrealiable narrator.

When an audience member asked Nélida Piñon about her love of story-telling, Ms. Piñon explained that since she comes from a Galician family, she believes she inherited an ancient imagination. That is why she invents.

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