The culture that is Buenos Aires

Argentina is to consider granting a special pension to writers on the grounds that they generate “social richness” but often end up impoverished.

The lower house of congress will study a proposal presented on Tuesday that would give published authors a monthly stipend of £565, well above the state minimum pension.

The idea, inspired by similar initiatives in France and Spain, would offer the pension to those who are aged over 65 and have published at least five books or invested more than 20 years in “literary creation”.

…The city of Buenos Aires, proud of a national literary tradition which boasts Roberto Arlt, Julio Cortázar and Jorge Luis Borges, approved a similar proposal in 2006 which granted a monthly pension of almost £400.

Of around 100 applicants to date 72 have been approved, a low number which should calm those worried about the fiscal implications of the scheme going national, Victor Redondo, a poet and member of the Argentine Writers’ Society, told the BBC.

The article is here.