For Luciana Manterowriting a book is a commitment to the love of literature, of chronicling, of journalism, of letters. “It is a personal commitment to give voice to a story that one feels is worthwhile, that leaves something behind, or to express one’s own voice. There is something very internal, very passionate about doing,” he says.
In 2011, it was ”Margarita Barrientos”; in 2015, “The greatest wish in the world”; and in 2024, “Disability in first person” (The Ateneo), the story of Jacqueline de las Carrerasa woman who became wheelchair-bound during her adolescence after polio and moved forward as a bulldozer in 20th century society on both a personal and organizational level because she was a pioneering activist for the rights of people with disabilities.
News: It seems that he is always searching for meaning. It talks about being compassionate with others and with ourselves. Was it a discovery from this book?
Luciana Mantero: It is very strong, because it is something that I have been working on recently in relation to my personal history, that is, trying to be compassionate with myself and apply that to the perspective that I exercise on the people to whom I decide to give a voice. Giving meaning and compassion seems to me to be two concepts and two key axes when it comes to establishing oneself as a human being, beyond the professional.
In her previous book, she shared in great detail her most challenging moment in life: a diagnosis of early menopause in her early thirties when Lucas (16) was already born but Joaquín (11) was barely (barely?) a deep desire , an urgency, a lack, a destiny that seemed impossible and that, despite all predictions, ended up coming true. She became a voice that came to tell the difficulty. It was December 2015 when she gave birth to her book. Marcos Penaher husband, had just taken up his position as Chief of Staff of the new president, Mauricio Macri.
News: She continues to be linked to the theme of (in)fertility through writing workshops for women who went through or are going through difficulties in the search for a child.
Mantero: Yes, but next year I will expand it to people and families with disabilities and writing workshops in general. I feel that there is an important contribution to make from the point of view of putting into words issues that give meaning to one’s life and that serve to understand, to observe oneself, to connect with others from a compassionate place, to not judge the other. , so as not to judge oneself when one writes. It all makes a lot of sense in relation to the path I am taking, a more introspective path in the middle of life.
News: Your personal story ended with the magic of a wish fulfilled, but you will encounter many cases where the impossibility continues. Is it heavy for you or is it something you can’t get rid of?
Mantero: Look, it’s really difficult (he gets excited). It’s like I could start crying right now. It is much more difficult for the women who live it than for me who listens to it, but I would still like to have the magic wand to ensure that all the people who want to be mothers become so at this moment, with responsibility, with love and with truth. ; and that cannot be. But I feel like I was able to combine my love for writing with my love for helping. I don’t know if it sounds very egotistical, but to provide support, to provide a minimal possibility of room for improvement. I could be giving talks on infertility and perhaps I would run out of the topic a little, but in this possibility of service, this space that I found through literature and writing and expression, is a way to give a space to women who are in this so that they can meet others, so that they can write about what happens to them. What is produced is magical.
News: What changed you when you went through a story of disability in the first person?
Mantero: Something that I felt I learned and that I finally incorporated by talking to Jacqueline is discovering how one can be enriched from difference. The other has other things to give me beyond the wheelchair, beyond not being able to see or not being able to hear, there is a lot that I can learn from the other.
News: He said that when researching Margarita Barrientos’ book, he went with a romantic idea of the character and found other facets. What happened to him this time?
Mantero: When you dig into a person, you find their lights and shadows, and that is also why you try to narrate it as truthfully as possible, to show that you do not have to be a saint or a perfect person to achieve transformations and make connections that the other They help him in life. That happened to me a little, you go with a preformed idea and then you start to encounter things that make you noise and that’s okay, it’s part of who we all are. Perhaps unlike the first book, I had a more compassionate view of Jacqueline, I think it has to do with my maturation.
News: She is working on stories of very strong women.
Mantero: Yes, in the case of Jacqueline it is very impressive because she comes from an era in which women were companions, almost decorative objects, with some exceptions. It was not easy and on top of that he was in a wheelchair. She, for example, stands up to her husband and tells him “the wheelchair is already tied to me, you are not going to tie me up”, as something of great impetus, there is an internal fire that is tried to be reflected in the book. .
News: How much is left of your own inner fire? How do you measure it today, at 47 years old?
Mantero: Well, I think the passion is still intact in terms of continuing to do what I like in a genuine way. My inner fire is seen in my books, in terms of what I feel I can give and a higher purpose, why. I try to write things that leave something behind and have meaning, that move but also help you think. Those are the sparks that I want to generate in the reader from my own fire. And I feel that continuing to be who I am in my literature is a lot, it costs me a lot too.
News: What costs the most?
Mantero: The stimulation of the networks, of the ephemeral, of the rushed, of everything now, of achievements, of success, of doing and not reflecting, of getting yourself published too. Because the stories they sell are the most brilliant stories or those of established people or those who have many followers or who are already known. I’m low profile, that’s why it’s also more difficult. But I am calm, my flame, my fire, goes through writing and narrative, and through my affections and my family.
News: You are a graduate of the UBA and have just finished the master’s degree in Creative Writing at UNTREF. What is your position regarding the current situation of public universities?
Mantero: I am a strong defender of the public university and I believe that in any case things must be improved, but not broken. It is a value, it is a place where there is a mixture of social, religious, and ideological origins. It is being able to find ourselves among people who come from different places and possibilities. I understand that we are a poor country but for me public education is something sacred.
News: And when you listen to a president who says that he is the mole who comes to destroy the State from within, what happens to you?
Mantero: Well, I definitely put myself on guard and wish it wasn’t like that at all. The truth is that it worries me a lot and I feel that a country without a strong State that equalizes opportunities is a country that is transformed into a place where rich and poor live in different worlds and that is perpetuated.
News: In a recent interview with Marcos (Peña) regarding this new stage of his life, he placed a lot of emphasis on giving himself permission and even forcing himself to create time for inner work. That plan will have had a strong impact on his family.
Mantero: Well, more than the preaching it is the exercise, right? So it’s even a better way to educate our children. I feel like there is a harmony there in which we are both very strong. And yes, it definitely affected for the better, that is, from someone super disconnected to someone very emotionally connected. In any case, the question is what leads us to disconnect when we are in places of leadership, of power, which is what he is working on and I deeply admire.
News: I remember that he confessed that if he did not leave politics, he would separate. How did you experience it?
Mantero: It was very difficult and there was even post-traumatic stress. It was very difficult, the truth is that I wouldn’t wish it on anyone, that is, in the sense that it is very emotionally and intellectually challenging. That limit between adhering and accompanying without ceasing to be who one is, supporting from love, but not blending in with the other and fanaticizing. I feel like that’s where my contribution is, which was very difficult.
