María Sol FANTIN

Writer and teacher María Sol Fantin faced attempts in 2024 to censor her book Si no fueras tan niña. Memorias de la violencia (If you weren't such a child: Memories of violence, Paidós, 2022), an autobiographical work that recounts the sexual abuse she suffered as a teenager at the hands of a teacher. On 17 November 2024, Vice-President Virginia Villarruel published a social media post, describing the book as glorifying 'paedophilia' and 'the sexualisation of children'. In response, Sol Fantin wrote a letter to families explaining her motivation for telling her story and warning of the negative consequences of censoring literature in educational contexts. 

María Sol Fantin, born in Buenos Aires in 1982, is a teacher in the public school system, teaching oral narrative in primary and nursery schools. She is also a lecturer and has a degree in Fine Arts (UBA) who has undertaken research into post-war Spanish poetry. She is the author of several books including: Un meteorito puede acabar con el planeta esta misma noche (2011) (A meteorite could destroy the planet tonight), Decime que soy linda (2012) (Tell me I'm pretty), ÁNIMAL PRINT: Geografía de la metrópolis (2017) (ANIMAL PRINT: Geography of the metrópolis), Normalidad (2018) (Normality) and Huevos (2020) (Eggs).