Out of the Cage

Fernanda García Lao is an Argentine novelist, poet, and playwright, referred to as “the strangest writer of Argentine literature.” She was born in Mendoza, Argentina in 1966 to two left wing journalists, who in 1975 were forced to flee to Spain where they lived in exile for nearly twenty years. Fernanda received her education in Spain, studying acting, dance, music, and journalism. When she returned to Argentina in the early nineties, she was trained further as an actress, playwright, and director. She is the author of several novels, plays, and one collection of short stories. Her novels and stories have received wide acclaim and accolades, and have been translated into French, Portuguese, and Swiss. At the 2011 Guadalajara Book Fair, Garcia Lao was named one of the “25 Best Kept Secrets of Latin American Literature." This is her first book in English. Will Vanderhyden is a freelance translator, with an MA in Literary Translation from the University of Rochester. He has translated the work of Carlos Labbé, Rodrigo Fresán, and Fernanda García Lao, among others. His translations have appeared in journals such as Two Lines, The Literary Review, The Scofield, and The Arkansas International. He has received fellowships from the NEA and the Lannan Foundation. His translation of The Invented Part by Rodrigo Fresán won the 2018 Best Translated Book Award.

“She's the best there is at portraying absurdity. There's never been anyone like her and nor will there be. Fernanda García Lao is the strangest writer in Argentine literature.” — SILVINA FRIERA, PÁGINA 12“In her new novel Out of the Cage, Fernanda García Lao composes a delirious story, accompanied by Peronist mysticism and twists that look like science fiction – such as the construction of a kind of female-third-world Frankenstein… the wandering soul that tells this story from an interdimensional space.” — Dolores Pruneda Paz, Télam