Kim Ekemar

I've been fortunate with opportunities to travel the world. Among various countries, I’ve counted Mexico, France, Sweden and Spain as my home at one time or other. In the past, a great part of my life was dedicated to business ventures: an art gallery, an advertising agency and commodity trading. My travels have taken me to faraway places and amazing situations. I arrived in Mongolia just as the country’s revolution for independence from the USSR started. A few years later, I was taken up the Sepik river by crocodile hunters in Papua Guinea. I’ve climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Kenya; gone horseback riding to the place where the Río Magdalena in Colombia is born; crossed the Australian desert; hiked the Inca trail the wrong direction in Peru; and much more. However, the most harrowing experience I’ve lived through was to be arbitrarily jailed in a centre for torture in Paraguay during the Stroessner dictatorship, under the absurd accusation of being a terrorist (the non-fiction narrative of this ordeal is available in Spanish under the title “El Reino del Terror”). During the past two decades, my focus has been on artistic expressions – painting, photography, design and architecture, but mainly on writing. The sources for the things I'm interested in writing about are the passions of people; places and customs that I've experienced around the world; and stories or situations from life that intrigue me. However, I'm convinced that none of the aforementioned is enough to create a work of literature (or any kind of artwork, for that matter) unless it's supported by a strong, fundamental story-telling idea. My interests are centred around languages, music, travelling to extraordinary places, and all visual arts. These elements, I believe, occupy a large place in what I write. Moreover, I'm certain they make it easier to visualise my literary work.