“The Vortex”, written 100 years ago, anticipated eco-literature

The book is on the minds and lips of presidents. Recently Gustavo Petro, Colombia’s leader, praised “La Vorágine” (“The Vortex”), a novella by José Eustasio Rivera, for having words that “still shine like stars” and showing how “the destruction of the jungle fills human beings with nothing but hatred”. Mr Petro and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Brazil’s president, both spoke about “The Vortex” at the International Book Fair of Bogotá. This year’s biblio-bonanza is celebrating the relationship between literature and nature, as well as the centenary of the publication of “The Vortex”, which was written in April 1924.