My Hope

The following text is an interview that Carlos Atencio-Atencio conducted with Roberto Pérez-Franco on the occasion of his receiving the 2005 José María Sánchez National Short Story Prize, with his fourth collection of stories, titled “Cenizas de ángel” (Angel Ashes).

What inspired you to enter the contest again this year?

Borges. Discovering him in his work redefined my conception of literature and forced me to rethink what the short story is. After five years devoted to specializing in logistics, I was already feeling a kind of agony at not having taken up the pen again. So I made up my mind to write again, and I used the contest as an excuse to motivate my mind, and a few masters as inspiration.

Did you have the 15 stories waiting, or are they new? Why fifteen?

Nine are rescued from texts written between 1993 and 2002, but largely rewritten in my current style. The other six are from this last year, experimental in nature. Fifteen because those were the ones I managed to dress decently by the deadline: there could have been twelve, or seventeen.

Do you work better with short stories?

Yes, but not out of conviction, out of convenience. The long story requires more working time and more narrative resources, which I currently lack. But this will change soon, since I plan to try longer, more intellectual and deeper stories in the years to come.

How many months did it take you to write the book?

Years, if you like: I began writing the first one in 1993 and finished the last one the day before the contest closed. The period of intense work was this past September.

What is the message of “Cenizas de ángel”?

The message of that story is that there is a balance between what we perceive as good and evil, and that the ruling energy of the world partakes of both manifestations, in spite of our expectations. The book as a collection has no message in itself: it is a search, perhaps an unsuccessful one, for art for art’s sake.

When did you realize you wanted to write?

At fifteen, when I read Eustorgio Chong Ruiz, who is a friend of my father’s and has already won seven Miró Prizes. I fell in love with his stories about La Heroica Villa, which is my hometown, and I wanted to write like that: to describe the mauve sunsets on the riverbank, and the land I come from. I dedicate a story in this collection to him, one that has a certain aftertaste of his style.

What other titles does this collection contain?

The titles are: La intrusa (The Intruder), Viento del norte (North Wind), El corazón de oro (The Heart of Gold), La última rosa (The Last Rose), Notas sobre el paraíso (Notes on Paradise), Destino (Destiny), Cenizas de ángel (Angel Ashes), La leyenda del rey viudo (The Legend of the Widowed King), El hombre que llega (The Man Who Arrives), Legado (Legacy), Caña rota (Broken Cane), En el camino (On the Road), Excusas (Excuses), Hacia el jardín (Toward the Garden), and El invento (The Invention).

Pérez-Franco had received an honorable mention in this contest in 1999.

That’s right. The merits of the story “Vida” (Life), which was praised by the jury on that occasion, and a certain worth in “Cierra tus ojos” (Close Your Eyes), won some mercy for the collection as a whole, but the rest was filler and did not deserve the prestige of the Prize. I received a Second Mention, and I counted myself well served.

What other genres do you cultivate?

My greatest ambition lies in the literary short story, which I want to go on understanding and studying. I practice, somewhat clumsily, verse, the short essay and, fairly often, the opinion column. I hope to take on a novella before I turn forty (I am 29).

Where did you graduate from, and in what?

From the Psicopedagógico Bilingüe and the José Daniel Crespo, in primary and secondary school, respectively. From the Technological University of Panama, as an Electromechanical Engineer, and from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, with a Master’s in Logistics.

In two words, what does it mean to be the winner of the José María Sánchez?

My hope.