Children’s literature is NOT intended for children. It is a literary game brimming with wisdom, tenderness and brilliance that teeters vertiginously between childhood and adulthood, short story and essay, writing and lived experience. A unique, unclassifiable book which, amongst other things, describes a man’s attempt, whilst under the influence of hallucinogenic mushrooms, to relearn the extremely difficult art of diving. At the same time, it explores fishing passions, parental blunders and a condition known as ‘football melancholy’.
In Sabra’s prose, a diary of fatherhood, a paternal ‘letter to his son’ and – as in every one of his books – masterfully pure fiction coexist in marvellous harmony. An unorthodox handbook for new parents and, at the same time, a brilliant new chapter that enriches the fascinating work of one of the most important Latin American writers of recent years.
“I love his destructive audacity.”
―Enrique Vila-Matas
Author:
Alejandro Zambra
Edited by:
Dimitris Papakostas
Cover design/illustration:
Christos Kourtoglou
Translation-Notes:
Achilles Kyriakidis
Date of publication:
24/02/2026
Pages:
272
Dimensions:
13.3 x 20.5 εκ.
ISBN:
978-960-572-782-6
Publication:
2026
Categories:
Literature, eBooks, Foreign Literature
"..."Children's Literature" is a work of exceptional importance, as it contains marvelous essayistic pieces that capture the depth and breadth of a modern thinker's mind. A book for many readings, whether complete or fragmentary."
– Maria Drimi, DiastixoLiterature as a condition allows Children's Literature to function, to overcome structural and technical gaps; not the love for it, but literature itself, as an independent deity, a constant of rotation, reading and writing, the experience of the self and the other, I flirt with privilege, I resist with necessity, I retreat and recover, I argue, I attack and parry, a constant conflict.
– ΝΟ14ΜΕ"Ο χιλιανός συγγραφέας μάς παραδίδει, τελικά, ένα υβριδικό βιβλίο (ούτε μυθοπλασία, ούτε δοκίμιο, ούτε αυτοβιογραφία, αλλά και όλα αυτά) που καταφέρνει να αποδώσει με ακρίβεια και σπάνια ηθική διαύγεια το τι σημαίνει να συνυπάρχεις με ένα παιδί, να το παρατηρείς, να το συνοδεύεις και -κυρίως- να μεταμορφώνεσαι μέσα από αυτό."
– Διονύσης Μαρίνος, Book PressAlejandro Zambra
Alejandro Zambra was born in Santiago, Chile, in 1975. He has published two collections of poetry, a collection of short stories, two collections of essays and five novels, which have been translated into more than twenty languages. His short stories have appeared in numerous anthologies of Latin American literature, as well as in magazines such as The New Yorker, The Paris Review, Granta, Harper’s and others.
In 2010, the literary magazine Granta ranked him among the best Spanish-language writers of the younger generation.
Among other honours, he has received the English Pen Award, the Prince Claus Award and the O. Henry Award.
Ikaros Publications has released his works Ways of Returning Home (2016), The Private Life of Trees (2017), Skills Test (2018), Chilean Poet (2021) and Children’s Literature (2026).
