Ariana Harwicz

Ariana Harwicz
Ariana Harwicz (2018).
Born1977 (age 48–49)
Buenos Aires
EducationUniversity of Paris VII, Sorbonne
OccupationsWriter, screenwriter, playwright and documentary maker
Writing career
Notable workDie, My Love
Notable awardsLonglisted for the 2018 International Booker Prize

Ariana Denise Harwicz (born 13 December 1977 in Buenos Aires) is an Argentine writer, screenwriter, playwright and documentary maker. She earned a degree in performing arts from the University of Paris VII and a Master's in comparative literature from the Sorbonne. Her first novel, Matate, amor (2012), was translated into English as Die, My Love (2017, Charco Press) and was longlisted for the 2018 Man Booker International Prize. La débil mental (2014) was translated as Feebleminded (Charco Press). Her works have been translated into more than ten languages.

Life and career

Ariana Harwicz was born in Buenos Aires on 13 December 1977 into a Jewish family. Her father, Carlos worked in the film industry; her mother, Silvia, was a psychoanalyst. Harwicz herself studied screenwriting and film direction in Argentina, before moving to France to study performing arts at the University of Paris VII and comparative literature at the Sorbonne. In 2007, she moved to the French village of Saint-Satur. Her husband is Edgardo Scott, also an Argentine writer. Harwicz has two sons.

Besides her native Spanish, Harwicz grew up speaking Hebrew at home; she also understands Portuguese and English.

Reception

Harwicz has been described as "one of the most singular voices of contemporary Argentine literature".

Writing about Die, My Love, critic Sarah Booker notes:

Violence—the imagining of it, the physical infliction of it, and its effect on the psyche—dominates this slim novel from its opening line....The novel immerses the reader into the mind of a woman struggling with post-partum depression, who teeters on the edge of reality, and who lashes out violently. Through the narrative perspective of a new mother and wife living in France, it examines the marginalized position of the mentally unstable and foreign in a rural landscape.

Ellen Jones of The Guardian writes about Feebleminded:

Harwicz excels at tackling taboos around female desire, filial loyalty, a lack of maternal instinct and even incest. Moreover, her prose, thanks in part to the razor-sharp translation, is completely addictive.

Film adaptations

After reading Die, My Love in 2020, American director Martin Scorsese sent actress Jennifer Lawrence a copy of the novel, telling her he imagined her as the protagonist of the novel. A film based on the novel, Die My Love, was released in 2025 directed by Lynne Ramsay, starring Lawrence and Robert Pattinson and produced by Scorcese. The film premiered at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival.

In 2025, it was announced that Harwicz's novel Unfit (Spanish: Perder el juicio) would receive a film adaptation.

Views on Israel and exclusion from literary festival

Harwicz denies the existence of a genocide in Gaza perpetrated by Israel and compares antizionist rhetoric to Nazi rhetoric. In 2025, she wrote on X that those who accuse Israel of a genocide "desire a genocide to confirm their hate of Israel".

In September 2026, Harwicz was excluded from a literary festival in Granada, Spain, hosted by the University of Granada, in which she was slated to participate, after a group of pro-Palestine activists requested her exclusion due to several articles penned by Harwicz, where she expressed her opposition to a cultural boycott of Israel. Harwicz accused the university of discriminating against her for being Jewish. Over 350 writers and intellectuals signed a letter condemning Harwicz's exclusion from the event; Irish writer John Banville withdrew from the event. The Argentine Embassy in Spain also condemned Harwicz's exclusion from the event and demanded that the University of Granada address the situation. In response, a letter signed by over 500 writers, including Cristina Rivera Garza, publicly criticized Harwicz for her position on the Gaza genocide and supported the decision of the festival organizers to rescind her invitation.

Bibliography

Fiction

  • Matate, amor (2012), translated by Sarah Moses and Carolina Orloff as Die, My Love (2012); adapted into a feature film (2025)
  • La débil mental (2014), translated by Annie McDermott and Carolina Orloff as Feebleminded (2019)
  • Precoz (2015), translated by Annie McDermott and Carolina Orloff as Tender (2022)
  • Degenerado (2019)
  • Perder el juicio (2024) translated by Jessie Mendez Sayer as Unfit (2025)

Essay

  • Tan intertextual que te desmayás (2013)
  • Desertar (2020)
  • El ruido de una época (2023)

Anthology

  • Trilogía de la pasión (2023)

References

  1. ↑ "Me impresiona ver en Europa, en Alemania, en Francia, en España, en los países nórdicos, llamar a los artistas a la Intifada, oírlos decir ‘basta del genocidio en Gaza‘, calificar a los israelíes de supremacistas y colonizadores. Encontraron la vuelta retórica para odiar a los judíos y pedir la aniquilación de Israel. Es una renovación lexical de la juventud hitleriana y del nazismo del siglo XX, pero más escandalosa y cómplice, a mi entender, porque tenemos la Shoá detrás”."
  2. ↑ "Les angustia terriblemente que no haya genocidio. Lo desean, desean que haya genocidio para confirmar su odio a Israel”, escribió en X en 2025.
  1. ↑ Flood, Alison (2018-03-12). "Man Booker International prize longlist: Han Kang up for top gong again". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2019-08-15.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Centenera, Mar; Aguilar, Andrea (27 September 2026). "Ariana Harwicz, la escritora incómoda que se niega a ser silenciada" [Ariana Harwicz, the uncomfortable author who refuses to be silenced] (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 September 2026.
  3. ↑ "Qué escribe Ariana Harwicz, la autora argentina vetada en el festival de Granada" [What does Ariana Harwicz, the Argentine author banned from the Granada festival, write]. infobae (in Spanish). 22 September 2026. Retrieved 24 September 2026.
  4. ↑ Frías, Miguel (8 September 2019). "Ariana Harwicz y Edgardo Scott: la pareja incorrecta de la literatura argentina". Clarín (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 September 2026.
  5. ↑ Harwicz, Ariana (27 August 2020). "WIT Month: An Interview with Ariana Harwicz". Asymptote Journal (Interview). Interviewed by Massot, Josefina. Retrieved 24 September 2026.
  6. ↑ "Die, My Love by Ariana Harwicz". Latin American Literature Today. 2018-04-30. Retrieved 2019-08-15.
  7. ↑ Jones, Ellen (2019-05-17). "Feebleminded by Ariana Harwicz review – dangerously addictive". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2019-08-15.
  8. ↑ Spencer-Elliot, Lydia (17 May 2025). "How Martin Scorsese's book club led to Jennifer Lawrence's latest lead role". The Independent. Retrieved 27 September 2026.
  9. ↑ Rooney, David (17 May 2025). "'Die My Love' Review: Jennifer Lawrence Spirals Into Psychosis While Robert Pattinson Plunges Into Despair in Lynne Ramsay's Jarring Character Study". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 27 September 2026.
  10. ↑ Gigena, Daniel (1 October 2025). ""Perder el juicio": la nueva novela de Ariana Harwicz también será adaptada el cine" ["Unfit": Ariana Harwicz's new novel will also be adapted for the screen]. La Nación (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 September 2026.
  11. ↑ Keslassy, Elsa (1 October 2025). "'Die My Love' Author Ariana Harwicz's New Book 'Unfit' Set for Film Adaptation From 'Close Your Eyes' Producer (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 27 September 2026.
  12. ↑ "Ariana Harwicz aseguró que fue cancelada del festival literario en España "por ser judía"". La Nación (in Spanish). 22 September 2026. Retrieved 23 September 2026.
  13. ↑ Aguilar, Andrea (18 September 2026). "El festival de Granada Cultur Alh prescinde de la escritora Ariana Harwicz por su postura contraria al boicot del mundo de la cultura a Israel". El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 23 September 2026.
  14. ↑ Aguilar, Andrea (23 September 2026). "Más de 350 escritores muestran su apoyo a Ariana Harwicz y John Banville declina ir a Granada" [Over 350 writers show their support for Ariana Harwicz and John Banville declines going to Granada]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 23 September 2026.
  15. ↑ "Argentine Embassy in Spain demands redress for writer Ariana Harwicz". Buenos Aires Herald. 22 September 2026. Retrieved 23 September 2026.
  16. ↑ Aguilar, Andrea (25 September 2026). "Más de 500 autores defienden la exclusión de Ariana Harwicz del festival Cultur Alh de Granada" [Over 500 authors defend the exclusion of Ariana Harwicz from the Cultur Alh festival in Granada]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 25 September 2026.