It’s easy to identify the classic writers in any language but learning about the respected contemporary writers is much more difficult. The SPLALit blog has posted a listing of the best 100 novels written in Spanish during the past 25 years.

The list is based on an article written by Semana, a Colombian magazine.

Of the 100 titles there are 22 books by Argentine writers. Only Spain had more titles (32) in the top 100. Colombia was third with 13 titles.

The Argentine writers

Okay, now I will be the first to admit that I’ve not read any of these books! In fact, of these 16 Argentine authors there are 7 that are new to me. The striking thing is how little is known in the English-speaking countries about so much world literature. In another post I’ll talk about the lack of translation for most of the titles. There’s a lot of work for literary translators. Unfortunately, very few publishers will publish works in translation these days.

At # 8: Santa Evita Tomás Eloy Martínez (1995)
[ English translation of Santa Evita]

At # 12 El entenado, Juan José Saer (1983)

At # 23 Cae la noche tropical Manuel Puig (1988)

At # 31 El pasado, Alan Pauls (2003)

At # 33 Santo Oficio De La Memoria Mempo Giardinelli (1991)

At # 41 La GrandeJuan José Saer (2005)

At # 45 La Gesta del MarranoMarco Aguinis (1991)

At # 47 Plata quemada, Ricardo Piglia (1997).

The English translation is titled Money to Burn

At # 48 El Vuelo de la ReinaTomás Eloy Martínez (2002)

At # 53 Un Campeon DesparejoAdolfo Bioy Casares (1993)

At # 54 Los pichiciegos, Rodolfo Enrique Fogwill (1993)

At # 56 Una Novela ChinaCésar Aira (1987)

At # 60. En estado de memoria, Tununa Mercado (1990)

At # 65 Luna calienteMempo Giardinelli (1983)

At # 66 Una sombra ya pronto serás, Osvaldo Soriano (1990)

At # 71 Los fantasmas, César Aira (1990)

At # 73 La muerte como efecto secundario, Ana María Shua (1997)

At # 79 Glosa, Juan José Saer (Argentina, 1986)

At # 80 Crónica de un iniciado, Abelardo Castillo (Argentina, 1991)

At # 81 El traductor, Salvador Benesdra (2002)

At # 82 Cumpleaños, César Aira (2001)

At # 83 La Sexta LamparaPablo de Santis (2005)

At # 90 A sus plantas rendido un león, Osvaldo Soriano (1988)