Schweblin
2019 Longlist

Fever Dream

Translated from the Spanish by Megan McDowell
artwork-image

ABOUT
THE BOOK

A young woman named Amanda lies dying in a rural hospital clinic. A boy named David sits beside her. She’s not his mother. He’s not her child. Together, they tell a haunting story of broken souls, toxins, and the power and desperation of family.
Fever Dream is a nightmare come to life, a ghost story for the real world, a love story and a cautionary tale. One of the freshest new voices to come out of the Spanish language and translated into English for the first time, Samanta Schweblin creates an aura of strange psychological menace and otherworldly reality in this absorbing, unsettling, taut novel.

 

 

ABOUT
THE AUTHOR Samanta
Schweblin

Samanta Schweblin was chosen as one of the 22 best writers in Spanish under the age of 35 by Granta. She is the author of three story collections that have won numerous awards, including the prestigious Juan Rulfo Story Prize, and been translated into 20 languages. Fever Dream is her first novel and is longlisted for the Man Booker International Prize. Originally from Buenos Aires, she lives in Berlin.

Samanta Schweblin was chosen as one of the 22 best writers in Spanish under the age of 35 by Granta. She is the author of three story collections that have won numerous awards, including the prestigious Juan Rulfo Story Prize, and been translated into 20 languages. Fever Dream is her first novel and is longlisted for the Man Booker International Prize. Originally from Buenos Aires, she lives in Berlin.

ABOUT
THE TRANSLATOR Megan
McDowell

Megan McDowell has translated many of the most important Latin American writers working today. Her translations have won the National Book Award for Translated Literature, the English PEN award, the Premio Valle-Inclán, and two O. Henry Prizes, and have been nominated for the International Booker Prize (four times) and the Kirkus Prize. Her short story translations have been featured in The New YorkerThe Paris ReviewThe New York Times Magazine,  Tin HouseMcSweeney’s, and Granta, among others. In 2020 she won an Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. She is from Richmond, KY and lives in Santiago, Chile.

 

Megan McDowell has translated many of the most important Latin American writers working today. Her translations have won the National Book Award for Translated Literature, the English PEN award, the Premio Valle-Inclán, and two O. Henry Prizes, and have been nominated for the International Booker Prize (four times) and the Kirkus Prize. Her short story translations have been featured in The New YorkerThe Paris ReviewThe New York Times Magazine,  Tin HouseMcSweeney’s, and Granta, among others. In 2020 she won an Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. She is from Richmond, KY and lives in Santiago, Chile.

 

NOMINATING LIBRARY COMMENTS

This is an eerie, tension-filled drama that focuses on two mothers in Argentina and their efforts to protect their children from the dangers of the world, real or imagined. Elements of horror and the fantastic are anchored by memorable characters and swift dialogue. Schweblin’s storytelling is challenging, atmospheric, and unforgettable.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Date published
01/01/2014
Country
Argentina
Original Language
Spanish
Publisher
Oneworld Publications
Translator
Megan McDowell
Translation
Translated from the Spanish by Megan McDowell

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