César Aira Interview: My Ideal is the Fairy Tale

Interview with Argentinian César Aira who has been called the Marcel Duchamp of Latin America because of his experimental and unpredictable books, heralded by e.g. Roberto Bolaño and Patti Smith. Here Aira talks about his writing and why his books end up like they do.
"You will have to travel to the south of Argentina to find the most original, the most shocking, the most exciting and subversive Spanish-speaking author of our time: César Aira" as put by Spanish newspaper El País. Carlos Fuentes has said that he thinks César Aira will be the first Argentinian to receive the Nobel Prize.
In this interview the Argentine writer César Aira talks about literature in general and his own writing in particular. Specifically he talks of the stories "Ghosts" (1990) and "An Episode in the Life of a Landscape Painter" (2000).
César Aira (b.1949) has published over eighty books of stories, novels and essays, half of which contain less than twenty pages. Since 1993 Aira has written two to four books each year. In this video Aira talks about his writing techniques and opinions and why he prefers writing shorter books. Writing should be story telling in an old fashioned way, much like a fairy tale, a story of something which happened once, to someone else, i.e. not told in the first person or present tense. Airas books may be short, but they are full of layers, he explains, starting perhaps with an experiment or some philosophocal idea.
Aira has taught at the University of Buenos Aires (about Copi and Rimbaud) and at the University of Rosario (Constructivism and Mallarmé), and has translated and edited books from France, England, Italy, Brazil, Spain, Mexico, and Venezuela.
César Aira was interviewed by the Danish writer Peter Adolphsen at the Louisiana Literature festival 2012. Adolphsen also translated Aira's words into English in this video.
Edited By Kamilla Bruus.
Produced by Christian Lund.
Copyright Louisiana Channel, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, 2013
Supported by Nordea-fonden

[@LynnDee227]

Cesar Aira is a delight. I love his writing.

[@barrosmoural]

Gosto como ele torna as coisas simples, permitindo nosso acesso

[@elgringolisto]

Great conversation, but especially love the ending.

[@desmondsamuel9548]

you all prolly dont care but does someone know a way to log back into an Instagram account?
I was dumb forgot the login password. I appreciate any help you can give me.

[@bridgercharlie8118]

@Desmond Samuel Instablaster =)

[@desmondsamuel9548]

@Bridger Charlie I really appreciate your reply. I got to the site thru google and im trying it out now.
Seems to take a while so I will get back to you later when my account password hopefully is recovered.

[@desmondsamuel9548]

@Bridger Charlie it worked and I now got access to my account again. I'm so happy!
Thanks so much you really help me out :D

[@bridgercharlie8118]

@Desmond Samuel glad I could help :D

[@leafyconcern]

My favorite writer

[@cristinacuello3448]

Qué belleza! Me enamore!

[@maurodeangelis1997]

Gracias, Maestro!

[@renatabegna6664]

Hermosa entrevista

[@killing.emojis]

Siempre tan placentero leerlo a César Aira como escucharlo.