Jump to content

Caro De Robertis

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Carolina de Robertis)

Caro De Robertis
De Robertis at the 2024 Texas Book Festival.
De Robertis at the 2024 Texas Book Festival.
BornCarolina De Robertis[1]
1975 (age 49–50)
England
OccupationAuthor
LanguageEnglish, Spanish
CitizenshipAmerican
EducationUniversity of California, Los Angeles (BA)
Mills College at Northeastern University (MFA)
Notable worksThe Invisible Mountain (2010)
Perla (2013)
The Gods of Tango (2015)
Radical Hope (2017)
Notable awardsRhegium Julii Debut Prize (2010)
Stonewall Book Award (2016)
Website
carolinaderobertis.com

Caro De Robertis (born 1975) is an Uruguayan–American author and professor of creative writing at San Francisco State University. They are the author of six novels and a nonfiction book, and the editor of an award-winning anthology, Radical Hope (2017), which include essays by such writers as Junot Díaz and Jane Smiley.[2] They are also well known for their translational work, frequently translating Spanish pieces.

Early life

[edit]

Caro De Robertis was born in England in 1975 to Uruguayan parents.[3] Their father, Edward De Robertis, is a renowned embryologist. At the time of their birth, Edward was competing his postdoctoral training at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology under Sir John Gurdon after completing his undergraduate and graduate studies in Uruguay and Argentina,[4] whereas their grandfather, Eduardo De Robertis, was an Argentine physician and biologist.[5][6] De Robertis is of paternal Italian descent, with their great–grandfather (Eduardo's father) hailing from Prepezzano [it], a hamlet in Giffoni Sei Casali, located in the province of Salerno of the Campania region.[7]

During their childhood, De Robertis moved across the world on several occasions following Edward's scientific career, starting in England, then moving to Basel, until finally settling in the United States, first in Los Angeles and eventually to Oakland.[8][9]

At the age of 19, De Robertis came out as bisexual, which they have described as the beginning of the process of their parents disowning them, which was complete by the time they were 25.[10] Describing their relationship with their parents, they said, "They actually dug in their heels and tried to turn my siblings against my first child when I was pregnant with the first child. I use that example to say, it's not true that everybody comes around."[10]

De Robertis received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature from University of California, Los Angeles in 1996. They worked as a rape counselor and were very active in the Bay Area's LGBTQ+ community for ten years in their 20s.[11] They received a Master of Fine Arts degree in creative writing from Mills College in 2007.[12]

Career

[edit]

De Robertis released their first book, The Invisible Mountain, in 2009. The novel was an international best-seller, and was translated into 17 languages,[13] including Italian, Spanish, German, Dutch, French, Hebrew, and Chinese. It was selected as a best book of the year by the San Francisco Chronicle, O, The Oprah Magazine, and Booklist. It was finalist for a California Book Award, an International Latino Book Award, and the VCU Cabell First Novelist Award.

De Robertis' 2019 novel, Cantoras, is set in 1970s Uruguay. Its five protagonists are lesbians.[14] The book was selected as a New York Times Editors' Choice.[15] It won a Stonewall Book Award and a Reading Women Award, and was a finalist for the Kirkus Prize for Fiction and Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Fiction.[16][17] In 2021, their novel The President and the Frog was published. The character of the President in the book is heavily influenced by José Mujica, the former President of Uruguay. Writing in The Nation, Lily Meyer said that the book, "asks its readers to think seriously about the weight of taking political action, then suggests that they take it."[14]

In 2022, De Robertis became the 41st recipient of the Dos Passos Prize, awarded annually to an American author who American "experiments with form, explores a range of voices and deserves more recognition."[18]

A non-fiction book, So Many Stars, is set to be released in May 2025.

Personal life

[edit]

De Robertis currently resides with their two children in Oakland, California. They identify as queer and genderqueer.[10] Describing their sexuality on the LGBTQ&A podcast, De Robertis said, "The more words the better. So I'm a dyke, I'm a lesbian... It's all good." De Robertis uses they/them pronouns.[19]

Works

[edit]

Novels

[edit]
  • The Invisible Mountain (2009)
  • Perla (2012)
  • The Gods of Tango (2015)
  • Cantoras (2019)
  • The President and the Frog (2021)
  • The Palace of Eros (2024)

Non-fiction

[edit]
  • So Many Stars: An Oral History of Trans, Nonbinary, Genderqueer, and Two-Spirit People of Color (2025)

Essays

[edit]
  • "42 Poorly Kept Secrets About Montevideo" (2006) for the Indiana Review
  • "Translating a Pablo Neruda Mystery" (2012) for Publishers Weekly
  • "We Need the Real, Racist Atticus Finch" (2015) for the San Francisco Chronicle Book Review
  • "Why We Must Listen to Women" (2017) for the East Bay Express

Short fiction

[edit]

Edited works

[edit]
  • Radical Hope (2017)

Translated works

[edit]

Honors and awards

[edit]

Honors and scholarships

[edit]

Literary Awards

[edit]
Year Title Award Category Result Ref.
2010 The Invisible Mountain California Book Award First Fiction Finalist [21]
First Novelist Award — Finalist [22]
Rhegium Julii Prize Debut Won
2016 The Gods of Tango Stonewall Book Award Barbara Gittings Literature Award Won
2019 Cantoras Kirkus Prize Fiction Finalist [23]
Reading Women Award Fiction Won [24]
2020 Lambda Literary Awards Lesbian Fiction Finalist [25]
Stonewall Book Award Barbara Gittings Literature Award Won
2022 The President and the Frog PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction — Finalist [26]
PEN/Jean Stein Book Award — Longlisted [27]
— Dos Passos Prize — Won [28]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Carolina De Robertis". www.goodreads.com.
  2. ^ "Coming in May – RADICAL HOPE: LETTERS OF LOVE AND DISSENT IN DANGEROUS TIMES". Carolina De Robertis. Retrieved April 26, 2018.
  3. ^ "Carolina De Robertis". www.arts.gov. Retrieved March 20, 2025.
  4. ^ "Edward De Robertis, M.D., Ph.D. – BioScience Postdoctoral Affairs". Retrieved March 20, 2025.
  5. ^ "Eduardo de Robertis biography" (in Spanish). Faculty of Mathematics and Physics Astronomy, National University of Córdoba. Archived from the original on December 27, 2014. Retrieved December 27, 2014.
  6. ^ "Eduardo De Robertis (1913–1988)". Retrieved July 5, 2016.
  7. ^ Lauren Harvey (August 6, 2024). "Caro De Robertis embraces new kind of mythmaking in 'The Palace of Eros'". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved March 20, 2025.
  8. ^ Lee, Nicole (July 17, 2015). "Carolina De Robertis talks about dancing through history with her novel 'The Gods of Tango'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 15, 2018.
  9. ^ BookBrowse. "Carolina De Robertis author biography". BookBrowse.com. Retrieved April 29, 2018.
  10. ^ a b c "Carolina De Robertis On Familial Homophobia: Not Everyone Comes Around". www.advocate.com. August 3, 2021. Retrieved August 3, 2021.
  11. ^ Leon, Aya de (February 1, 2016). "Novelist Carolina De Robertis wins a Stonewall Award for their historical treatment of queer and transgender identity in THE GODS OF TANGO". Huffington Post. Retrieved March 17, 2018.
  12. ^ "Alumnae/i Spotlight". Mills College. Archived from the original on April 29, 2018. Retrieved March 17, 2018.
  13. ^ "Carolina De Robertis - Bay Area Book Festival". Bay Area Book Festival. Archived from the original on May 24, 2018. Retrieved March 17, 2018.
  14. ^ a b Meyer, Lily (October 29, 2021). "The Moral and Magical Political Fictions of Carolina De Robertis". ISSN 0027-8378. Retrieved December 3, 2021.
  15. ^ "10 New Books We Recommend This Week". The New York Times. October 10, 2019. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 2, 2021.
  16. ^ admin (September 9, 2009). "Stonewall Book Awards List". Round Tables. Retrieved August 2, 2021.
  17. ^ "Here are the finalists for the 2020 Lambda Literary Awards". www.thefussylibrarian.com. March 10, 2020. Retrieved August 2, 2021.
  18. ^ University, Longwood. "Carolina De Robertis named 41st John Dos Passos Prize winner". www.longwood.edu. Retrieved January 27, 2023.
  19. ^ "LGBTQ&A: Carolina De Robertis: A Love Letter to Anyone Who's Felt Despair on Apple Podcasts". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved August 3, 2021.
  20. ^ "Carolina De Robertis". NEA. January 1, 2012. Archived from the original on April 12, 2018. Retrieved March 17, 2018.
  21. ^ "California Book Award finalists". SFGATE. March 28, 2010. Archived from the original on April 13, 2023. Retrieved February 27, 2025.
  22. ^ "2010 VCU Cabell First Novelist Award Winner and Finalists". First Novelist Award at VCU. Retrieved February 27, 2025.
  23. ^ "Book Reviews, Sites, Romance, Fantasy, Fiction". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved February 27, 2025.
  24. ^ "Reading Women Award". reading women. Retrieved February 27, 2025.
  25. ^ "Here are the Finalists For the 2020 Lambda Literary Awards". Oprah Daily. March 10, 2020. Retrieved February 27, 2025.
  26. ^ "Announcing the Finalists for the 2022 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction". PEN/Faulkner Foundation. Retrieved February 27, 2025.
  27. ^ "Announcing the 2022 PEN America Literary Awards Longlists". PEN America. December 15, 2021. Retrieved February 27, 2025.
  28. ^ "Carolina De Robertis has won the 2022 John Dos Passos Prize". Literary Hub. January 26, 2023. Retrieved February 27, 2025.
[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Caro De Robertis.
Wikiquote has quotations related to Caro De Robertis.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Caro_De_Robertis&oldid=1281643722"