And even artist residences: I spent two months in the Italian residence Civitella Rainieri, half an hour from Umbértide by car, and I went quite a bit to the city, so I knew quite a few corners for Enzo’s history. SS: At first, I worked with cities that I knew, and almost all of them I knew for literary reasons, because I had been invited to readings or festivals: Lyon, Erfurt, Lima, among many others. How did you choose your settings? I understand that you’ve spent time in Oaxaca previously. JRR: The world in which the kentukis exist is transnational and mobile. The interesting thing is how it is used, the interesting thing is the people behind it, and the limits to which they can reach or let go. It is neither good nor bad, nor interesting in itself. I did not intend to think of the technological dangers from an explosive or apocalyptic place, but within the most intimate and personal worlds in which we live. And that was the place I was most interested in thinking about. It is naive and clumsy harm, yet massive. But I think we sometimes neglect the power and harm that we, ourselves, as naive and poorly-educated users of technology, inflict on others. It was already there, even in 1984 by George Orwell, and any apocalyptic idea regarding the control that can be inflicted at a massive level on citizens seems very genuine to me. For decades, we have been concerned with the idea of technological control in the hands of large companies or states themselves. And there is also something about my own fears about our exposure to technology today. Samanta Schweblin: I suppose I got to this other side of the mirror naturally, because of the type of device a kentuki is, and the possibilities it offers as a literary object.

Little eyes schweblin