the novel The Orange Tree Girlswritten by Argentina Gabriela Cabezón Cámara and translated into English by Robin Myers under the title We are green and tremblinghas been awarded the National Book Award in the Translated Literature category for 2025. The ceremony, held in New York, has distinguished both creators for a work that explores the historical figure of Catalina de Erauso, known as the ensign nunand which delves into the processes of conquest and cultural encounter in America through the eyes of two Guaraní girls.
Cabezón Cámara thanked the recognition, highlighting the role of free public education in Argentina, stating: “the people of working class like I would never be here” without that support.
The novel, originally published in 2023 by Penguin Random House, is inspired by the life of Catherine of Erauso (1592-1650), a character who has been the subject of numerous historical studies, literary stories and film adaptations. After fleeing the convent of San Sebastián, Erauso, now a man, traveled to America around 1603, the context in which Cabezón Cámara’s narrative is set.
The National Book Foundation, responsible for granting the prize, has defined the work as “a baroque satire queer, a picaresque novel surrealist rich in a language overflowing with imagination and a scathing critique of subjugation, colonialism and tyranny in all its forms.”
The translation into English, made by the poet Robin Myershas been recognized as one of the most rewarding experiences of his career. Myers has described the novel as “dizzying, with great vitalism and cadence, which mixes different registers and is deliberately anachronistic because it combines archaic and contemporary Spanish.” The linguistic complexity of the work has been a challenge for the translator, who has shared the stage with the author during the award ceremony.
The National Book Award, one of the most prestigious literary awards in the United States, awards a prize of 10,000 dollarsdistributed between the author and the translator. The Orange Tree Girls She had previously been honored with awards such as the Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Prize in Guadalajara, the Ciudat de Barcelona Prize in the Spanish language and the Medifé Filba Foundation Prize, among others.
The work is thematically linked to Cabezón Cámara’s previous novel, The Adventures of China Iron (2017), in which the author reinterpreted gaucho literature from a feminist perspectivetaking as reference the Argentine classic Martin Fierro (1872) by José Hernández.
In The Orange Tree Girlsthe author resumes the exploration of historical and literary texts, giving the narrative a queer approach and a social criticism that dialogues with the present.
The jury of the 76th National Book Awards has selected the winners from a total of 49 finalists. In the same ceremony, other authors have been recognized in different categories: Rabih Alameddine has received the award for best work of fiction for The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother), Omar El Akkad has been distinguished in essay by Someday everyone will always want to be against, Patricia Smith He has won the poetry award for The Intentions of Thunder and Daniel Nayeri has been awarded in youth literature for The Teacher of Nomad Land: A World War II Story.
The National Book Foundation, the organizing entity of the awards, has highlighted the innovative nature and relevance of Cabezón Cámara’s work, which, through exuberant prose and a critical perspective, revisits fundamental episodes in history and hispanoamerican literature.
