Rodolfo Enrique Fogwill facts for kids

Rodolfo Enrique Fogwill

Rodolfo Enrique Fogwill (born July 15, 1941 – died August 21, 2010) was an important Argentine writer. He wrote many short stories and novels. He was also a businessman. People usually called him just Fogwill. He was known for his book Malvinas Requiem. This was one of the first stories about the Falklands War. Fogwill passed away in 2010 because of a lung problem.

About Fogwill

Fogwill was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He became a teacher at a big university there, the University of Buenos Aires. He wrote poetry books, essays, and newspaper articles. These articles were about communication, books, and culture.

In 1980, he won a writing prize for his story "Muchacha punk" (which means "Punk Girl"). This success allowed him to stop being a businessman. He then became a full-time writer. He called this change "a plot of misunderstandings and misfortunes."

Some of his stories have been published in other countries. These include the United States, Cuba, Mexico, and Spain. He is especially famous for his short novel Malvinas Requiem. This book is also known as Los pichiciegos.

Malvinas Requiem Explained

Malvinas Requiem was one of the first books about the Falklands War. This war was fought between Argentina and the United Kingdom. The story is told from the point of view of young Argentine soldiers. They were forced to join the army.

A critic named María A. Duran said the book was a "masterful and disillusioned story of an absurd war." Another Argentine critic, Martín Kohan, said the book's release was like an earthquake. He said, "you would have to measure it on the Richter scale."

The book is about a group of Argentine soldiers who leave their army during the war. They dig a cave and tunnels in a dangerous area. They hide there as the weather gets worse. These soldiers call themselves "pichiciegos." This name comes from a small armadillo found in Argentina.

To survive, they find food and supplies on the battlefield. They also take things from the Argentine army. Sometimes, they trade with the British soldiers. They also see strange things around them. Most of the "pichiciegos" die in the end. They are suffocated by carbon monoxide when snow blocks their cave's air holes. Only one soldier survives. We learn that he is telling his story to someone back in Buenos Aires.

Working with Others

In 2006, a music center asked Fogwill to work with a composer. He chose Oscar Edelstein, who writes modern music. Edelstein used two of Fogwill's poems to create a musical play. The play was called "Eterna Flotación-Los monstruito."

This play was the first musical work to talk about the time when Carlos Menem was president of Argentina. It showed how Argentina faced many economic problems. Fogwill used the idea of "monsters" in his poems. This was inspired by a short story by Jorge Luis Borges and Adolfo Bioy Casares. In Edelstein's play, there are two main characters called Monstruo I and Monstruo II.

This was not the first time Fogwill and Oscar Edelstein worked together. In 1997, Fogwill translated and recorded a poem for Edelstein's work "Klange, Klange Urutaú." A music critic said Fogwill's reading was "expressive and strange."

Books by Fogwill

Novels

• Malvinas Requiem: Visions of an Underground War (translated by Nick Caistor, 2007) (original: Los pichiciegos, 1983)
• The Good New (La buena nueva, 1990)
• A Pale History of Love (Una pálida historia de amor, 1991)
• To Live Outside (Vivir afuera, 1998)
• Songs of Sailors in the Pampas (Cantos de marineros en las pampas, 1998), a collection of stories
• La experiencia sensible (2001)
• En otro orden de cosas (2002)
• Urbana (2003)
• Runa (2003)
• Un guion para Artkino (2009)
• Nuestro modo de vida (2014) (published after he died)
• La introducción (2016) (published after he died)

Short stories

• My Dead Punks (Mis muertos punk, 1980)
• Japanese music (Música japonesa, 1982)
• Imaginary Armies (Ejércitos imaginarios, 1983)
• Birds of the Head (Pájaros de la cabeza, 1985)
• Punk Girl (Muchacha punk, 1992)
• Diurnal Remains (Restos diurnos, 1993)
• Cuentos completos (2009)

Poems

• The Effect of Reality (El efecto de realidad, 1979)
• The Hours of Appointments (Las horas de citas, 1980)
• Parts of the Whole (Partes del todo, 1990)
• The Given ("Lo dado", 2001)
• Canción de paz (2003)
• Últimos movimientos (2004)
• Poesía completa (2016)

See also

In Spanish: Rodolfo Fogwill para niños