The interview that you didn't know by Julio Ramón Ribeyro with… Julio Ramón Ribeyro!

 

The interview that you didn't know by Julio Ramón Ribeyro with… Julio Ramón Ribeyro!

To remember Julio Ramón Ribeyro on the day of his birth, we publish this interrogation of himself by the author of “The Word of the Mute” as an introduction to his biography for a book that brought together texts from those attending the literary conference “Colloquio Literatura y Society”, which took place in Cusco, from July 1 to 6, 1993.

 

Interrogation of Julio Ramón Ribeyro:

 

—His full name.

—Julio Ramón Ribeyro Zúñiga.

 

-Place and date of birth.

—Lima, 1929.

 

-Home.

-I have two. One on the Barranco boardwalk and another in Monceau Park, in Paris. I live six months in each place.

 

-Civil status.

—Married, with a 25-year-old son.

 

-Occupation.

-Don't have.

 

-Profession.

—I don't have any profession.

 

—What do you do then?

—I write from time to time.

 

—What does he live on?

—From my savings and my copyrights.

 

—What does he write?

—I have published a hundred stories collected in four volumes under the title of The Word of the Mute. Three novels, ten plays and some essay books.

 

—What are they about?

—I can't tell you just like that. You should read them.

 

-I do not have time for that. What did you do while

He lived in Europe?

—I worked for ten years at the France-Presse agency as a journalist and twenty years as a diplomat in the Peruvian delegation to UNESCO.

 

—Have you ever been imprisoned?

-Never. Except once in Paris for twenty-four hours, because my residence permit had expired.

 

—Does he have any political activities?

-None. I am not registered in any party.

 

—But he will have some sympathies.

—As a young man with socialism. But currently with nothing. I'm a skeptic. I limit myself to observing.

 

—Do you know who Karl Marx is?

—At one time I tried to read it, but it bored me.

 

—What was he doing in East Berlin in 1958?

—I went to listen to the symphony orchestra's The Ninth, by Beethoven. I am a fan of classical music.

 

—Does he practice any sport or game?

—Football when I was young. He was a centre forward on my class team. Now only swimming, cycling and chess.

 

—I see him very skinny. Will he not have AIDS?

—I would know. It happens that they removed almost my entire stomach due to cancer and that's why I eat very little.

 

-One last question. What are you coming to do in Cusco?

—I have been invited to a writers' meeting.

 

-Good. Consulting his file I see that he has hidden many things from me. Who has won the national awards for novels, theater and literature twice. That he was decorated with the Order of the Sun. That he was made a member of the Peruvian Academy of Language. That his books are translated into English, French, German, Italian, Russian, Chinese, etc. But I also see that in 1954 he traveled to Warsaw to a communist-inspired youth congress. That in 1964 you signed a statement supporting the guerrillas. That in 1959 he was a professor at the University of Huamanga.

 That you are a friend of Mario Vargas Llosa and Alfonso Barrantes.

  Consequently, you goes to prison. Pass inside.

With affection,

Ruben