Samanta Schweblin

Samanta Schweblin is an Argentine author who writes short stories and novels in Spanish. Her works include Fever Dream (2017) and Little Eyes (2020). She won the 2022 National Book Award for Translated Literature.

Samanta Schweblin was born in 1978. She studied film as an undergraduate. She found practical answers to storytelling in film rather than in literature. During her childhood, she was sent to a psychoanalyst for being too distracted. The psychoanalyst told her, "You don't have a problem, and you're not that distracted". She added, "You're just paying attention to things that other people aren't".

Schweblin published her first book, El núcleo del Disturbio, in 2002. It won an award from Argentina's National Endowment for the Arts. In 2008, she won the Casa de las Américas award. This was for her short story collection Pájaros en la boca. The English translation of Mouthful of Birds appeared in 2019.

Her first novel, Distancia de Rescate, was published in 2014. The English translation, Fever Dream, appeared in 2017. It won the 2015 Tigre Juan Award. It also won the 2017 Shirley Jackson Award for Best Novella. The novel was shortlisted for the 2017 Man Booker International Prize.

Schweblin was nominated for the Man Booker International Prize again in 2019. This was for the English translation of Mouthful of Birds. Her short story collection Siete casas vacías was published in 2015. The English translation of Seven Empty Houses appeared in 2022. It won the National Book Award for Translated Literature.

Her novel Kentucky was published in 2018. The English translation of Little Eyes appeared in 2020. It was longlisted for the 2020 Man Booker International Prize. Netflix adapted Fever Dream into a film in 2021. The director was Claudia Llosa.

Schweblin said: "I am constantly looking for what is unknown to me". She explained this is "that which occupies a void in my knowledge". She described her interest as "the shimmering light of everything that surrounds us". She added it is "that which we have not yet learnt to recognise".

Schweblin has worked closely with translator Megan McDowell. McDowell has translated all her books into English. Her books have been translated into more than forty languages. Stories have appeared in The New Yorker, The Paris Review and Granta.

In the winter semester of 2020–2021, Schweblin held the Samuel Fischer guest professorship. This was at the Free University of Berlin. In 2024, she was named an International Writer by the Royal Society of Literature.

Her latest collection, Good and Evil and Other Stories, was published in 2025. The original Spanish title was El buen mal. The collection contains six stories. These include Welcome to the Club, A Fabulous Animal and An Eye in the Throat. The collection explores themes of family tragedy, grief and loss. It was named a New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice.

Schweblin described literature as a technology. She said: 'Is there any other technology that allows us to confront our worst demons, test ourselves repeatedly, and then return to real life unscathed?'

Argentine poet Roberto Juarroz wrote about living between two places. He said: "Never again will we tread as before". Schweblin said, "That's how I feel living in Berlin". She explained that living elsewhere forces her to look more closely at Argentina. She said: "As soon as I sit down to write, I'm once again deep in Argentina".

Samanta Schweblin is currently based in Berlin.