Giovanna Rivero

Giovanna Rivero (born 1972) is a Bolivian novelist and short story writer. She is one of Bolivia's most successful contemporary fiction writers. Her work has been described as belonging to the Latin American Gothic literary movement.

Biography Born in Montero, Santa Cruz, Rivero was awarded the Santa Cruz Municipal Prize for Literature in 1997 for her short story collection Las bestias (The beasts). In 2005, she received the Franz Tamayo Short Story Prize for La Dueña de nuestros sueños (The owner of our dreams). In 2004, she took part in the Iowa Writing Program at the University of Iowa and in 2006 she was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship which allowed her to obtain a master's degree in Latin-American literature from the University of Florida. In 2011, she was one of the 25 new Latin-American talents chosen by Mexico's Guadalajara Book Fair.

Commenting on her latest novel, 98 segundos sin sombra (98 seconds with no shadow), Fernando Iwasaki of El Mercurio comments: "Giovanna Rivero writes good prose, able to create powerful characters. With [this work] she has added her name to the book of Latin-American literature." The novel has been published by the Spanish publishing house Caballo de Troya, contributing to Rivero's growing international success.

In addition to writing novels and short stories, Rivero is a regular contributor to local and national newspapers. She also teaches semiotics and journalism at the Univeridad Privada de Santa Cruz de la Sierra.

Selected works 1994: Nombrando el eco, short stories 1997: Las bestias, short stories 2001: Las camaleonas, novel 2002: Sentir lo oscuro, short stories 2002: La dueña de nuestros sueños, children's stories 2005: Contraluna, short stories 2006: Sangre dulce, short stories 2008: Tukzon, historias colaterales, novel 2009: Niñas y detectives, short stories 2011: Helena 2022: La vera crónica de un naufragio en el tiempo, young adult novel 2014: 98 segundos sin sombra, novel 2015: Para comerte mejor, short stories 2020: Tierra fresca de su tumba, short stories / Fresh Dirt From the Grave (tr. Isabel Adey for Charco Press, United Kingdom) 2020: Ana Bolena, historical-biographical novel (Colección Mujeres Poderosas) 2022: Roxelana, historical-biographical novel (Colección Mujeres Poderosas) 2025: Alma oscura del alba, novel 2025: Un resplandor, short stories