Slum Virgin Paperback - 2017

Gabriela Cabezn Cmara was born in Buenos Aires in 1968. Her debut novel La virgen cabeza (published in English as Slum Virgin by Charco Press, 2017) was followed by Romance de la negra rubia (Romance of the Black Blonde, 2014) as well as by two collections of short stories. In 2011 she published the novella Le viste la cara a Dios (You've Seen God's Face), later republished as a graphic novel, Beya (Biutiful), illustrated by Iaki Echeverra. Beya was awarded the Argentine Senate's Alfredo Palacios Prize and was recognised by the Buenos Aires City Council and the Congress of Buenos Aires Province for its social and cultural significance as well as for its contribution in the fight against human trafficking. During 2013, she was writer-in-residence at UC Berkeley, and in 2019 she was part of the Literarisches Colloquium Berlin.

Frances Riddle has translated numerous Spanish-language authors including Isabel Allende, Claudia Pieiro, Leila Guerriero, and Sara Gallardo. Her translation of Theatre of War by Andrea Jeftanovic was granted an English PEN Award in 2020. Her work has appeared in journals such as Granta, Electric Literature, and The White Review, among others. She holds a BA in Spanish Language Literature from Louisiana State University and an MA in Translation Studies from the University of Buenos Aires. In 2022, Frances' translation of Elena Knows by Claudia Pieiro was shortlisted for the International Booker Prize. Originally from Houston, Texas she lives in Buenos Aires, Argentina.