A “little” about me

I was born in Bahía Blanca, province of Buenos Aires, on December 3, 1972.

I studied and graduated as a Biochemist in 1996, at the Universidad de Buenos Aires. A year before, I started Philosophy, at the same University, and I studied up to the third year. This second career I did much slower because, while I was doing it, I worked eight hours in a laboratory for quality control of food and medicines.

Many -but many- years later, I returned to the Facultad de Filosofía y Letras de la Universidad de Buenos Aires and submitted a project to do a PhD in Linguistics. In November 2018 I was accepted. It was great because I was looking forward to resuming my academic life and continue studying.

Going back to the last century, when I was working as a biochemist and studying Philosophy, the writing bug was still biting and the desire to do it with a guide appeared. In a talk I attended, I asked a writer I have greatly admired since I was a child, Graciela Montes, what to do, and she advised me to participate in the literary workshop coordinated by Susana Cazenave de Rodríguez.

At TALIJ, as the workshop was called, we not only wrote but also read and analyzed literature books for children and young people. Susana was a teacher and guide on my path from then until her passing in 2012. Before that workshop I was not sure if I wanted to specialize in any particular field of literature, but while studying with Susi, I began to read in a different way and to reflect on how important literature is for children and young people (how important it was for me, too!) and that made my mind up.

My two academic backgrounds allowed me to comfortably develop two branches of writing for children and young people: literary production and science communication.

In the year 2000 I published my first stories in a Santillana reading books -called Libromanía- directed by Graciela Pérez Aguilar and Silvia Schujer. Months later, the Spanish publishing house Susaeta commissioned me four books about monsters, witches, wizards and animals and then, another four about numbers, letters, colors and opposites. These eight books were published in Spain, with illustrations by Florencia Cafferata.

In 2003 I was asked by my university’s publishing house, called Eudeba, to develop a collection of science communication books for children: this is how the ¿Querés saber? collection was born, which today has 50 titles and authors with extensive experience such as illustrators Pablo Bernasconi, Viviana Bilotti and Luciana Fernández, and scientists Andrés Folguera, Danae Fiore, Luis Cappozzo and Alberto Kornblihtt, among others. The ¿Querés Saber? Collection was highlighted by ALIJA in 2005 as the best science popularization collection for children; and in 2013, as the best collection, rewarding its permanence in the market and its high quality.

As I was telling you above, at the end of 2018 I was accepted into the UBA PhD program to pursue a PhD in linguistics. I started in 2019. My thesis directors are Dr. Carolina Tosi and Dr. Paula Bertúa. Studying is always a challenge and when the object of study is my working tool, the language, that challenge is also a great pleasure.

I am currently continuing my PhD and I am part of a research group called “Discursos e infancias” (Discourses and childhoods) led by Dr. Carolina Tosi and Dr. Gabriel Dvoskin at the Institute of Linguistics of the Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA). My research topics refer especially to the representations of science, the identity and the deconstruction of stereotypes in literature for children and young people.

To date I have published the following novels:

El mar y la serpiente (2005, Grupo Editorial Norma), which was highlighted by the Asociación de Literatura Infantil y Juvenil de Argentina (ALIJA) in 2006 and received a special mention in the selection The White Ravens, of the Internationale Jugendbibliothek (International Youth Library), Munich (Germany), Unesco, in the same year.
Eleodoro (2006, Grupo Editorial Norma), recommended by IBBY Mexico in 2018.
La cuarta pata (2006, Grupo Editorial Norma)
La rosa de los vientos (2007, Ediciones SM; 2022, Loqueleo)
Solo tres segundos (2011, Grupo Editorial Norma)
Una casa de secretos (2012, Ediciones SM), which won the 10th El Barco de Vapor Argentina Children’s Literature Award from the SM Foundation. It also received a mention as an outstanding juvenile novel by ALIJA in 2013 and was mentioned in the juvenile category as “endearing novel” by the Banco del Libro de Venezuela in 2017 .
Sin rueditas (2014, Ediciones SM; 2022, Grupo Editorial Norma)
La chica pájaro (2015, Grupo Editorial Norma), which was one of the best 20 LIJ books of 2015 according to the Cuatrogatos Foundation, Miami, USA, was selected by IBBY Mexico among the recommended juvenile novels for 2017 and received a place among the best juvenile novels in the world by being part of the White Ravens books, from the Internationale Jugendbibliothek (International Youth Library), Munich (Germany), Unesco, in 2016.
Lo que guarda un caracol (2016, Loqueleo), which was recognized as one of the best 20 LIJ books of 2016 according to the Cuatrogatos Foundation, Miami, USA.
Dos pequeñas gatas japonesas (2018, Norma), selected for distribution in 19700 public primary schools by the Ministry of Education of Argentina.
Juana Azurduy. La fuerza escondida (2019, Norma), highlighted by ALIJA as best children’s historical novel in 2020.
Boca de tiburón (2019, Enlace Editorial)
La desobediente (2021, Loqueleo), selected among the best 32 LIJ books of 2021 according to the Cuatrogatos Foundation, Miami, USA.
Flor de estrellas (2021, Norma)
La tía, la guerra (2021, Loqueleo)
La sombra del jacarandá (2023, Norma)
Muralistas (2024, Norma)
Papaya y Alegría (2024, Enlace Editorial)

And the following science communication books:

Desde el azul del cielo (2007, Norma), currently out of print.
La danza de la panza (2008, Comunicarte Editorial), which is actually a text that combines the communication of concepts for healthy eating with small poems related to this issue, beautifully illustrated by Sonia Esplugas.
Ciencia y superhéroes (2013, Siglo XXI Editores), co-authored with Andrés Valenzuela, which was highlighted in the category of Scientific Dissemination by ALIJA in 2014 and was a finalist for the award for best non-fiction book on comics, awarded every year by the Cultural Movement for the dissemination of children’s and young people’s comics, Banda Dibujada.
Voces que cuentan (2019, UNICEF), developed jointly with Asociación Civil Intercambiemos and the UNICEF health team, available for free download at https://www.unicef.org/argentina/informes/voces-que-cuentan.
Mara. Apuntes sobre la vida de una elefanta (2022, FCE) is my first book in the collection A orillas del viento, published by Fondo de Cultura Económica. The proposal was to build a non-fiction book with a poetic approach. My personal challenge: to make the book difficult to classify. I am very happy with the result.
.¿Cómo se hace justicia? (2024, Siglo XXI Editores), co-authored with Graciela Montes, is the second title in the collection “Entender y participar” (Understanding and Participating).
Las artes y las ciencias. Una historia de encuentros y desencuentros (2024, Eudeba). Title #50 of the collection ¿Querés saber?

I also wrote biographies of scientists, such as the Nobel Prize winners Luis Leloir and César Milstein, for the collection “Conociendo a nuestros científicos”, which was published by the Universidad de La Punta, San Luis until 2013, now out of print.

I have contributed stories to collective creation books such as:

“Cuando los ojos se cierran” (in the book Quelonios 2, 2011, Ediciones Biblioteca Nacional).
“Justice” (in the book A July Morning-Illustrated Memory, 2012, AMIA Editions).
“Manuel no es Superman” (in the book Quien soy. Relatos sobre identidad, nietos y reencuentros, 2013, Calibroscopio).
“Corazón colibrí” (in the book Susurros que cuenta el viento – Leyendas de la Tierra, 2014, Ediciones SM).
“En el asiento de tu silla…” (in the book Diez en un barco, 2014, Ediciones SM).
“Fronteras” (in the book Identidades Encontradas, 2017, Editorial Norma).
In 2018 was published El pelotazo, my first album book, co-authored with Poly Bernatene. I’m a fan of the Buenas Noches collection, from Editorial Norma, in particular of Keiko Kasza’s books, and the fact that one of my books is next to hers makes me very happy.
In 2019, my album book El lunes conocí a Emi, illustrated by Ivanke and Mey, as part of UNICEF’s Caring Stories series. This series of four stories can be downloaded free of charge at https://www.unicef.org/argentina/informes/serie-cuentos-que-cuidan
In 2021 I was invited again by UNICEF to participate in the project Imagining health futures: An anthology of speculative fiction stories about the future of health in which I collaborated with the science fiction story “Sanar de a dos” / “Heal in pairs“. Like the other 11 stories in the anthology, it can be downloaded free of charge at https://www.governinghealthfutures2030.org/imagining-health-futures/story-to-tell

AZ publishing house published two anthologies containing stories of my authorship:

In Siete cuentos registrados is “Un encuentro definitivo” (A definitive encounter).
In Ocho cuentos con nombre is “El bocado”.

Also in 2021 I was part of Leer X Leer, readings to share aloud, an initiative of the National Reading Plan with two short stories:

“Kibú”, in Book 2
“Cicatrices”, in Book 3

In 2022, the publishing house Amauta published the book Historias de Abuelas, which contains two of my short stories: “La alegría, ese fuego” and “El gorrión más bello”. This book is being presented in international, national, provincial and municipal book fairs and is the third production of Ovillo de trazos, the literary project that we carry out in Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo.

In 2024 Eudeba published my story Mila en el mar in the collection “Los nuevos cuentos de Chiribitil”. It is number 15 of a collection of 20 new stories written by very dear colleagues. It is a great joy to be part of this collection.

I am also interested in researching topics related to literature, art and science. The result of these writing experiences are the articles and papers that you can find in the sections “Artículos”, “Colaboraciones” and “Desde mi cristal” of this webpage, where you will also know on what date and in what place I read publicly some of these texts.

Thanks to my books, I travel all over the country and and also to other countries, meeting readers in almost every place I visit. These encounters often bring me surprises that I enjoy very much. I have traveled to Mexico, one of the Latin American countries that reads my books the most, visiting schools in Mexico City, Guadalajara and several towns in Jalisco. Also to Colombia: Bogotá, Cali, Medellín, Cucuta and Popayan are the cities I know thanks to my readers.

Since 2013 and until its closure, I wrote in PIN, the magazine for children that was published together with the traditional Caras y Caretas magazine. What I wrote there were opinion pieces on events in our national history.

As you can see, I continue to work, both in the field of literature and in the transmission of scientific knowledge, linking them whenever I find an opportunity.

On the other hand, I have been collaborating for years with Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo. Together with the communication and education teams of this non-governmental organization, we think of projects related to human rights for children and youth, especially the right to identity. It is particularly important for us that the new generations feel that they are protagonists of what Argentine society experienced during the years of the last dictatorship, as we are still growing up with the consequences.

One of the most long-term projects that we are carrying out at abuelas is called Ovillo de trazos and it already has several manifestations. The first are a book of microfictions published by the Ministerio de Educación de la Nación Argentina in 2015, written and illustrated by some of our best writers and illustrators. These microfictions were then turned into animated shorts stories that were broadcast on the educational channel Paka Paka. The second stage of the project resulted in the book Identidades encontradas – Ovillo de trazos II, published in the Zona Libre collection in 2017 by Norma Ediciones. Historias de Abuelas – Ovillo de trazos III was presented to the public for the first time at the Buenos Aires International Book Fair in April 2022. It is an anthology of short stories that fictionalize the life stories of twelve grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo.

In 2022, the National Ministry of Education reissued the anthology of stories Las Abuelas nos cuentan. Una nueva colección por el derecho a la identidad, a book accompanied by a booklet for teachers. It was a very enriching work for me, I am proud to have been part of it.

Within Abuelas we also organize annual cycles of talks and conferences with specialists dedicated to reflecting on different aspects of childhood and youth. All these activities can be found on the Abuelas website, https://abuelas.org.ar/.

During 2022 I collaborated with two programs of the Biblioteca Nacional Mariano Moreno: one, with the Human Rights Program, contributing a testimony to its archive, which you can see in the “Audiovisuales” tab; and with the Community Work Program, giving talks on literature and science to teachers, students and anyone interested.

To help the correct communication of scientific information about the SARS-cv-2 pandemic and the COVID disease, during April 2020, with fellow artists and scientists from the Facultad de Bioquímica, I made two videos with subtitles that we broadcast, first, from our personal social networks, and then were transmitted by Paka Paka and other educational channels. These two videos kicked off the Corona-Dudas cycle, which I made for free for the same channel, based on questions asked by children, collected by a UNICEF team. The description of the cycle of micro-videos and the links to them can be found on this page, in the “Audiovisuales” tab.

During 2022, the Subsecretaría de Educación de la Provincia de Buenos Aires, under the administration of Alberto Sileoni, invited me to be part of the book selection group for the collection Identidades bonaerenses, a collection for the libraries of secondary schools and teacher training institutes in which fiction and non-fiction texts coexist. It is a pioneer in its field and it took us more than a year of work to put it together. This collection was presented at the Buenos Aires International Book Fair 2024.

IN ANOTHER SORT OF THINGS, compiling questions I have been asked over the years, I tell you:

– MY PREFERRED ACTIVITIES are traveling, reading and writing but, when I’m not doing that, I love watching series and movies, take a walk through the neighbourhood, cooking and eating desserts and cakes, meeting my friends, spending time with my children, napping and looking at the sky -if there are clouds, the better.

– I like MUSIC very much. I listen to all kinds of music. I’m one of those people who listen to music as if I were listening to stories, I can’t avoid paying attention to it, so music is a great complement to my work as a writer. I also enjoy silence a lot. I think of it as another kind of possible melody.

– My FAVORITE BANDS are Pearl Jam and Radiohead. I also like the Pixies and a very funny band called B’52. From Argentine rock my favorites are Divididos and Don Cornelio y la Zona. Lately I’m listening a lot to Massacre, a band I was a big fan of when I was a teenager. Of the new urban bands, the one that interests me the most is Wos. I also like Juana Molina, Fiona Apple and Billie Eilish. I usually accompany each writing project with a particular music. I listen to classical music, especially the composers Debussy and Satie; and jazz, a lot of jazz.

-I don’t like loud noises or people shouting. I have no problem with the dark.

-THE BIGGEST FEAR I have is that something bad will happen to my children and I won’t be able to help them.

-I LIVE WITH Lolo -my husband and bestfriend-, and with our children, Emiliano and Juana. We have two cats, Inku and Kasai, and many plants. Our house is in the city of Buenos Aires, in the neighborhood of La Paternal.

-The CANDIES that I like the most are Titas (and their variants of other brands), the bitter chocolate bites and dark chocolate mints. Also the chocolate-covered cookies or wafers. Lollipops and chewing gums don’t really appeal to me; eucalyptus gummies do.

– My FAVORITE MEAT is fish. I really like vegetables, fruits and desserts (sometimes, in restaurants, instead of ordering a main dish, I go straight to the dessert!) I don’t like pastas. I prefer sandwichs and salad pies. I love soups!

– If I had to choose only one food for the rest of my life, it would be dark chocolate with 70% cocoa. Although I would have a hard time giving up other flavors like salmon meat, cherries, the crunch of lettuce, the warmth of freshly baked bread and…. truth be told, I hope I never have to limit myself to one food!

– I don’t like dulce de leche, I said it! And I don’t like white chocolate either. I can eat milk chocolate, but I get sick of it right away (that’s why I prefer bitter chocolate, to eat more!).

– If I have to choose a drink, it would be cold water (boring, but that’s me). I really like lemonade and fruit smoothies. I drink mate and other infusions (coffee, tea, flowers -such as chamomile- and herbs -such as cedron and mint-). I do not usually drink alcohol, although I do not deprive myself of a nice glass of wine from time to time. I don’t like beer very much. Aperitifs, on the other hand, do.

– I COULD NEVER CHOOSE JUST ONE BOOK. To a desert island I would take an e-book full of titles and several batteries and solar panels to recharge it.

– I tend to read several books at a time. I always have a book in my purse or on my desk or bedside table. Sometimes it is a book of short stories, a novel, sometimes an essay or a comic book or a collection of poems. For me, reading is as necessary as water.

– I have many FAVORITE WRITERS. And it is impossible for me to choose among them. Liliana Bodoc, María Teresa Andruetto, Graciela Montes and Laura Devetach are my “lighthouse writers”, I read and listen to them with all my attention. I also turn to other women writers when thinking and reflecting, such as Marguerite Duras, Clarice Lispector, Siri Hustvedt, Ursula Le Guin, Marina Colasanti, Christine Noetinger, Lygia Bojunga, Virginia Woolf, Idea Villarino, Anne Dufourmantelle, Helene Cisoux, Julia Kristeva, etc, etc, etc, etc. There are also male WRITERS that I like very much and I usually consult and reread, such as Edgar Alan Poe, Julio Cortázar, Jorge Luis Borges, Roberto Juarroz, Ian Mc Ewan, John Irving, Raymond Carver, Maurice Blanchot, Michael Foucault, Mijail Bajtin, Gustave Flaubert, Yukio Mishima, Yasunari Kawabata, Kenzaburo Oé, Byul Chul Han, etc, etc, etc. I have a great reading debt with Russian authors, I hope to pay it off soon.

– I am not a fan of any soccer team, but if I were, I would be a fan of Argentino Juniors, the team from my neighborhood, La Paternal. My PREFERRED SPORT is basketball and my favourite player, Tim Duncan, from the San Antonio Spurs (unfortunately, he has retired). But I don’t watch any games because I get very nervous, except for the finals when my team gets there. I love watch the Olympics and World Cups. I like to watch sports programs in general. I like to play sports. Throughout my life I have done athletics, volleyball, aerial dance, running, yoga and pilates.

– I like all COLORS except yellow and gold (that is, the same but with and without metallic effect, ha). My favorites are green, blue and violet but I also wear a lot of black clothes.

– If I had to choose five species of ANIMALS, I would choose black panthers, dragonflies, otters, elephants and echidnas. But that would mean leaving out cats, wolves, spiders, beetles, fireflies, whales and a whole bunch of other animals that also delight and amaze me. So let’s not choose, let’s take care of them all so that no species becomes extinct.

– One of my favorite hobbies is taking care of MY PLANTS. I love jasmine, lavender and Chinese roses, as well as wildflowers and plants that do not bear showy flowers. I have a favorite tree, the ginkgo biloba, of Japanese origin and millenary life. The ceibo tree is a beauty and its flower, the national flower of Argentina, is extremely curious to me, because of the subtle differences in its color and shape. I also find orchids very curious and fascinating.

– It makes me very uncomfortable to receive bouquets of flowers as a gift, I prefer a plant a thousand times. Not because they are not beautiful, because they are – there are florists who make real works of art – but because I feel very sorry when the flowers wither and have to be thrown away. So if you feel like giving me a flower, let it be attached to the plant that gives it life! ;-D

– My challenge for the next few years is to make a vegetable garden in my backyard. It’s quite small, but I think we can do something…. I currently have pots of mint, boldo, turmeric, chives and green onions.

Some interviews that can be found on the web:

Paula Bombara

A “little” about me

Paula Bombara

Obra

Vida

Desde mi cristal

Contacto