We are Green and Trembling

by Gabriela Cabezón Cámara, Gabriela Camara · 2025

We Are Green and Trembling is a lush, surreal re‑imagining of the 17th‑century life of Antonio de Erauso, a Basque nun who escaped a convent, lived as a man, and roamed the New World as a soldier, conquistador and rescuer of two Guaraní girls. Narrated as a letter to his aunt, the prioress, the novel blends baroque historical fiction with queer picaresque adventure, critiquing religious tyranny, colonial oppression and the mistreatment of women and indigenous peoples. Set in the Amazonian rainforest, the story uses magical realism and lyrical language to explore transformation, identity and hope amid brutal colonial history.