# Caro De Robertis

Caro De Robertis (born 1975) is an Uruguayan American author and professor of creative writing at San Francisco State University. They are the author of six novels and a nonfiction book, and the editor of an award-winning anthology, Radical Hope (2017), which include essays by such writers as Junot Díaz and Jane Smiley. They are also well known for their translational work, frequently translating Spanish pieces.

## Early life

Caro De Robertis is the child of Uruguayan parents, was born in England, and moved several times following the scientific career of their father, Edward De Robertis. De Robertis lived in Basel (Switzerland), until finally settling in Los Angeles and eventually Oakland.
At the age of 19, De Robertis came out as bisexual, which they have described as the beginning of the process of their parents disowning them, which was complete by the time they were 25. Describing their relationship with their parents, they said, "They actually dug in their heels and tried to turn my siblings against my first child when I was pregnant with the first child. I use that example to say, it's not true that everybody comes around."
De Robertis received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature from University of California, Los Angeles in 1996. They worked as a rape counselor and were very active in the Bay Area's LGBTQ+ community for ten years in their 20s. They received a Master of Fine Arts degree in creative writing from Mills College in 2007.

## Career

De Robertis released their first book, The Invisible Mountain, in 2009. The novel was an international best-seller, and was translated into 17 languages, including Italian, Spanish, German, Dutch, French, Hebrew, and Chinese. It was selected as a best book of the year by the San Francisco Chronicle, O, The Oprah Magazine, and Booklist. It was finalist for a California Book Award, an International Latino Book Award, and the VCU Cabell First Novelist Award.
De Robertis' 2019 novel, Cantoras, is set in 1970s Uruguay. Its five protagonists are lesbians. The book was selected as a New York Times Editors' Choice. It won a Stonewall Book Award and a Reading Women Award, and was a finalist for the Kirkus Prize for Fiction and Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Fiction. In 2021, their novel The President and the Frog was published. The character of the President in the book is heavily influenced by José Mujica, the former President of Uruguay. Writing in The Nation, Lily Meyer said that the book, "asks its readers to think seriously about the weight of taking political action, then suggests that they take it."
In 2022, De Robertis became the 41st recipient of the Dos Passos Prize, awarded annually to an American author who American "experiments with form, explores a range of voices and deserves more recognition."
A non-fiction book, So Many Stars, is set to be released in May 2025.

## Personal life

De Robertis' paternal grandfather was an Argentine physician and biologist of Italian descent. Their father Edward De Robertis is an American-born embryologist who spent his early life in Uruguay. They live with their two children in Oakland, California. They identify as queer and genderqueer. Describing their sexuality on the LGBTQ&A podcast, De Robertis said, "The more words the better. So I'm a dyke, I'm a lesbian... It's all good." De Robertis uses they/them pronouns.

## Works
### Novels

* The Invisible Mountain (2009)
* Perla (2012)
* The Gods of Tango (2015)
* Cantoras (2019)
* The President and the Frog (2021)
* The Palace of Eros (2024)

### Non-fiction

* So Many Stars: An Oral History of Trans, Nonbinary, Genderqueer, and Two-Spirit People of Color (2025)

### Essays

* "42 Poorly Kept Secrets About Montevideo" (2006) for the Indiana Review
* "Translating a Pablo Neruda Mystery" (2012) for Publishers Weekly
* "We Need the Real, Racist Atticus Finch" (2015) for the San Francisco Chronicle Book Review
* "Why We Must Listen to Women" (2017) for the East Bay Express

### Short fiction

* "The Askers" (2009) for the Virginia Quarterly Review
* "On the Brink of Words" (2009) for the 580 Split
* "For Orlando" (2016) for the San Francisco Chronicle
* "The Tango Police" (2017) for CNET's Technically Literate Series

### Edited works

* Radical Hope (2017)

### Translated works

* "Trans: A Love Story" by Gabriela Wiener (2007)
* Bonsai by Alejandro Zambra (2008)
* "I Never Went to Blanes" by Diego Trelles Paz (2010)
* The Neruda Case by Roberto Ampuero (2012)
* "Tripych" by Raquel Lubartowski (2017)

## Honors and awards
### Honors and scholarships

* 2012 Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts

### Literary Awards

| Year | Title | Award | Category | Result |
| 2010 | The Invisible Mountain | California Book Award | First Fiction | Finalist |
| 2010 | The Invisible Mountain | First Novelist Award | — | Finalist |
| 2010 | The Invisible Mountain | Rhegium Julii Prize | Debut | Won |
| 2016 | The Gods of Tango | Stonewall Book Award | Barbara Gittings Literature Award | Won |
| 2019 | Cantoras | Kirkus Prize | Fiction | Finalist |
| 2019 | Cantoras | Reading Women Award | Fiction | Won |
| 2020 | Cantoras | Lambda Literary Awards | Lesbian Fiction | Finalist |
| 2020 | Cantoras | Stonewall Book Award | Barbara Gittings Literature Award | Won |
| 2022 | The President and the Frog | PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction | — | Finalist |
| 2022 | The President and the Frog | PEN/Jean Stein Book Award | — | Longlisted |
| 2022 | — | Dos Passos Prize | — | Won |