Chiquitita

Carmona-Alvarez masterfully depicts a story about escape, longing, and fear – seen through a child’s eyes and later re-experienced from an adult’s perspective. The novel is a linguistic delight despite all the devilry rumbling below the surface. It’s impossible to come away from Chiquitita without being deeply moved by the literary experience it offers.

Dagbladet, 6/6 stars

Pedro Carmona-Alvarez presents a harrowing and linguistically powerful exploration of the escape from Chile’s military dictatorship. Through his meticulous and inventive use of language, Carmona-Alvarez has crafted a profoundly thought-provoking piece of literary art, deepening the reader’s comprehension of the enduring impact of displacement on the human psyche.

Dagens Næringsliv

Chiquitita is outstanding both linguistically and stylistically, and unlike most of what the jury has read. Pedro Carmona-Alvarez’s depiction trauma of borders on the hypnotic and is, unfortunately, extremely relevant. A painful and powerful tale about how refugee children are marked for life. It’s impossible not to be moved by Marisol’s story and all of the terrible things she’s been subjected to.

Riksmaal Society’s Literature Prize

Carmona-Alvarez intimately delves into the question of time, exploring how the perception of time can shift when faced with challenging or even extreme circumstances (…) Chiquitita stands apart from anything else, radiating brilliance and beauty in its intimacy and sagacity, yet also imbued with an unsettling aspect.

NRK

This is a poem, not only a novel, a song about fear and fate, loss and longing, with a language so sharp and clear, existential and tender, that you can smell the sea where it all begins and feel the main character’s emotions from child to woman in the most moving, heartrending way.

Regina Kammerer, publisher, Luchterhand

A unique literary project. This novel gives voice to all children who have been forced to flee, forming yet another intricate facet within a unique literary undertaking – evocative of the shifting patterns seen through a kaleidoscope.

Bergens Tidende, 6/6 stars