This collection results from an important work selection of representative works of different ethnic groups that, primarily, have been published in “Libro al Viento” by the Bogotá’s Cultural Office, Idartes.
Published in 1960, La Calle 10 is a novel by Manuel Zapata Olivella set in Bogotá. In this city, the author of this work lived when studying Medicine amidst the reigning atmosphere of the misery of those years that, in turn, would be the proper scenario for the explosion of violence after Jorge Eliecer Gaitán's death on April 9, 1948.
The amazement of witnessing entire civilizations that resulted foreign to the European construct, together with the variety of plants and animals, and the outrageous amount of gold and precious stones complemented by the thrill and fear of facing death in every corner, must have been so sharp and deep for conquerors that they had to improvise their very own style and wording to give an account of everything they saw.