A Surprisingly Subversive Novel

Published at a time when Magic Realism was at its peak, Que viva la música -by Andrés Caicedo or Liveforever as it has been published in English by Penguin Modern Classics- is one of the very few Latin American novels that until this day celebrates youth culture. Tragically commemorated since its young author committed suicide the same day he received the first printed copy, it is a cultural and spiritual portrait of a city, Cali in Colombia, in the early 1970s. A deceptively subversive novel in terms of its language and the emotional politics of urban youth. A remarkable literary gem still unknown outside its native Colombia. This programme, part of the Authors in Search of a Reader series, was recorded in front of a live audience at the Instituto Cervantes in London with the stellar participation of its translator, Frank Wynne, and the linguist and educator Gustavo García. The talk is presented by the Institute's Director in London, Ignacio Peyró, and moderated by Juan Toledo