Such Small Hands by Andrés Barba
Spanish writer Andrés Barba presents the English version of “Las manos pequeñas” in conversation with Matthew Davis, Director of The Alan Cheuse International Writers Center of George Mason University.
Such Small Hands
- Original title: Las manos pequeñas
- Translated by Lisa Dillman, winner of the 2016 Best Translated Book Award. Afterword by Edmund White.
Life changes at the orphanage the day seven-year-old Marina shows up. She is different from the other girls: at once an outcast and object of fascination. As Marina struggles to find her place, she invents a game whose rules are dictated by a haunting violence. Written in hypnotic, lyrical prose, alternating between Marina’s perspective and the choral we of the other girls, Such Small Hands evokes the pain of loss and the hunger for acceptance.
About Andrés Barba
Andrés Barba first gained renown with his novel La hermana de Katia, nominated for the Premio Herralde and turned into a movie by Mijke de Jong. Other major works include Versiones de Teresa, recipient of the Premio Torrente Ballester and Muerte de un caballo, winner of the Premio Juan March. Barba was also named one of the Best of Young Spanish-Language Novelists by Granta magazine. His work has been translated into several European languages.
About Matthew Davis
Cheuse Center founding director Matthew Davis has long merged the worlds of creative writing and international relations. He has also been a beneficiary and proponent of cultural diplomacy and international exchange. He joined the Peace Corps in Mongolia after college, and his years as a volunteer in The Land of Blue Sky inspired his first book, When Things Get Dark: A Mongolian Winter’s Tale, which won the 2010 Peace Corps Experience Award. Davis holds an MFA in nonfiction writing from the University of Iowa and an MA in International Relations from The Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. He’s worked at The International Writing Program at the University of Iowa, been a Fulbright Fellow to Syria and Jordan and a Tom and Mary Gallagher Fellow at The Black Mountain Institute in Las Vegas.