Conquest of PagesBooks by South American authors: a reading list by country
South America gave the world magical realism, the modern Latin American novel and some of the twentieth century’s most inventive short stories, mostly written in Spanish and Portuguese. Beyond the famous names there is a strong current of contemporary fiction, crime writing and poetry from every country on the continent.
How to use this list
South America has 12 countries in the read-around-the-world challenge. Below is one well-loved book by an author born in 9 of them — a place to start, not a verdict. With only twelve countries, South America is the quickest continent to finish — a good first target if you want to see a whole region fill in on the map.
A book to start with, country by country
| Country | A place to start |
|---|---|
| Argentina | Ficciones — Jorge Luis Borges |
| Brazil | The Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas — Machado de Assis |
| Chile | The Savage Detectives — Roberto Bolaño |
| Colombia | One Hundred Years of Solitude — Gabriel García Márquez |
| Ecuador | Huasipungo — Jorge Icaza |
| Paraguay | I the Supreme — Augusto Roa Bastos |
| Peru | The Feast of the Goat — Mario Vargas Llosa |
| Uruguay | Open Veins of Latin America — Eduardo Galeano |
| Venezuela | Doña Bárbara — Rómulo Gallegos |
Your pick
No single obvious starting point for these — any author born in the country counts. Search a library catalogue for “literature of” the country, or look at its national prize winners.
- Bolivia
- Guyana
- Suriname
Keep going
Other regions: Africa · Asia · Europe · North America · Oceania. The whole challenge is explained on Read around the world.
In Conquest of Pages each book you finish plants a forest where its author was born, so a list like this one turns into a map you can watch fill in. It is free, and your library stays on your device.