Mariana Enriquez’s new book connects her interest in cemeteries with Argentina’s past

Summary

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Episode Overview

Title: Mariana Enriquez’s new book connects her interest in cemeteries with Argentina’s past
Podcast: NPR's Book of the Day
Date: October 7, 2025
Host: Glenn Weldon (intro), Ayesha Rascoe (main interviewer)
Guest: Mariana Enriquez, Argentine author
Main Theme:
This episode features a conversation with Mariana Enriquez about her new nonfiction book, “Somebody Is Walking on Your Grave.” The book explores cemeteries around the world as sites of memory, history, class, trauma, and the supernatural, connecting Enriquez’s lifelong fascination with graveyards—rooted in both personal and political history in Argentina—with the universal human need to commemorate the dead.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Origins of Enriquez’s Fascination with Cemeteries

• Childhood Gothic Roots

  • Enriquez describes herself as a lifelong goth: “I used to be a goth when I was young, like a goth from age 6” (02:04).
  • Early influences included reading Edgar Allan Poe, wearing black, and romanticizing darkness.

• Deeper, Historical Motivation

  • The trauma of Argentina’s “disappeared” during the 1970s dictatorship deeply shaped her interest:

    “A generation of people that were killed by the government and they don't have a grave. I realized that trauma... made me feel that a grave, a tombstone, it's something of comfort. It's a final thing in a good way.” (02:16—03:07)

2. The Ritual & Importance of Grieving

• Why Burials Matter
  • Enriquez underscores the cruelty of unresolved loss:

    “Because grieving is important. People don't go through that process. It's absolutely cruel... the only comfort we have is the comfort of grieving, of paying respects, of having a place to go and remember memory. It's a rite.” (03:31—03:53)

3. Cemeteries as Reflections of History and Class

• Visible Hierarchies of the Dead
  • Cemeteries mirror social stratifications:

    “In every cemetery you have the rich... with the marble, et cetera, the middle class and then the people on the ground... It's the same as life. That's what's very striking.” (04:18—05:16)

  • Enriquez cites colonial histories in Argentina and Australia: wealthy colonial families buried in marked graves, Indigenous burial sites often unmarked.

4. Encounters & Community Among Cemetery Visitors

• Shared Interests and Pilgrimages
  • She rarely meets fellow “cemetery enthusiasts,” but sometimes encounters “peregrines”:

    “People that go to see a special grave and you are going to visit the same person. And sometimes you recognize each other.” (05:24—05:52)

5. Ethics and Stories from the Paris Catacombs

• A Macabre Souvenir
  • Enriquez recounts (somewhat sheepishly) taking a bone from the Paris catacombs:

    “I said, okay, I'm going to take a little bone with me. I mean, I fully respect the people in the catacombs... but the security is not great.” (06:07—06:39)

• Respect for the Dead
  • She reflects on the line between respect and irreverence, viewing the dead as needing company, not just solemnity:

    “You can be a bit less solemn and respectful and go there and have some. Have a Coke and have a chat. There were people. They are people, and I think they would like a friend... I wouldn't like to be there lonely forever.” (06:55—07:47)

6. Personal Burial Wishes

• Desire to Rest in Recoleta Cemetery
  • Wants her ashes scattered in Buenos Aires’s aristocratic Recoleta cemetery, specifically at a grave marked, “there's nothing here, only dust and bones. Nothing.” (07:56—08:36)
  • Speaks to both the exclusivity of historical burial sites and her personal attitude toward death and remembrance.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On cemeteries as mirrors of inequality:

  “It's the same as life. That's what's very striking.” (05:16, Enriquez)

• On grieving and memory:

  “The only comfort we have is the comfort of grieving, of paying respects, of having a place to go and remember memory.” (03:43, Enriquez)

• On respecting the dead:

  “Sometimes I think... you can be a bit less solemn and respectful and go there and have some. Have a Coke and have a chat. ... I wouldn't like to be there lonely forever.” (07:03—07:47, Enriquez)

• On taking a souvenir from the catacombs:

  "I know, but when things are in books, you can always say, well, that's. It's a bit of fiction... But I went to the catacombs... and I said, okay, I'm going to take a little bone with me." (06:07–06:39, Enriquez)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [01:18] – Introduction to Mariana Enriquez and the theme of cemeteries as “full of life”
• [02:04] – Enriquez describes her gothic childhood and deeper roots of her cemetery fascination
• [03:31] – Discussion of why burials and finding the body matter, link to grief and memory
• [04:18] – Cemeteries as reflections of classism and colonial history
• [05:24] – Encounters with other cemetery-goers (“peregrines”)
• [06:07] – Story about taking a bone from the Paris catacombs and reflecting on respect for the dead
• [07:56] – Enriquez shares her personal burial wishes in Recoleta Cemetery

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Tone & Language

The conversation is intimate, philosophical, and lightly humorous, blending Enriquez’s gothic sensibility and deep empathy for the disappeared and marginalized. The tone is reflective—with moments of sly irreverence and warmth, as when Enriquez jokes about the Paris catacombs and imagines chatting with the dead over a Coke.

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Summary

In this episode, Mariana Enriquez guides listeners through the world’s cemeteries—revealing them as vivid, layered places resonant with history, loss, class, and memory. Her journey is personal and political, shaped by Argentina’s legacy of disappearance and her own embrace of the gothic. Through stories both thoughtful and darkly comic, Enriquez makes the case that how and where we mourn the dead says as much about the living as it does about the afterlife.

Transcript

[A]

Hey all, it's NPR's Book of the Day podcast. I'm Glenn Weldon. You don't have to be a goth to enjoy a stroll through a cemetery, especially this time of year with the leaves crunching under your feet. Author Mariana Enriquez was a goth kid, but she says her lifelong fascination with graveyards is rooted in something deeper than her teenage eyeliner and black nail polish. She was born in Argentina during a time when the government was disappearing. A lot of people, an entire generation, was killed by the military dictatorship without graves to mark their passing. Mary Cass's latest book, somebody is walking on your Grave is a celebration of final resting places around the world, places she's visited, stories she's gathered. She talked to Aisha Roscoe about her fascination with sepulchers, tombs, crypts, catacombs and humble church graveyards. Here's Aisha.

[B]

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[C]

Cemeteries might not be everyone's idea of fun, but for Argentine author Mariana Enriquez, they're full of life. They're a doorway into history, memory, and sometimes the supernatural. Enriquez, known for her chilling fiction, turns to real resting places around the world in her new nonfiction book, somebody is Walking on youn Grave, a series of personal short stories she's collected over the years while traveling to cemeteries across four continents. Mariana Enriquez joins us now. Thank you for being here.

[D]

Oh, thank you so much for having me. I'm very glad.

[C]

Why are you so interested in cemeteries? They seem like your favorite place to visit.

[D]

The first reason is I used to be a goth when I was young, like a goth from age 6 or.

[C]

Something, with the dark hair, dark, wearing black all the time sort of thing.

[D]

Reading Edgar Allan Poe. And then with the years, I learned that also cemeteries have a lot to say about life, about the history of the people. And then Argentina in the 70s, that is the decade where I was born, had a dictatorship that made a lot of bodies disappear. Therefore there's a generation of people that were killed by the government and they don't have a grave. I realized that that trauma that is very engraved in my life somehow made me feel that a grave, a Tombstone, it's something of comfort. It's a final thing in a good way. So between the very fun goth kind of thing, those a deep reason for all this. And that's why I decided this could be a book.

[C]

In the book you talk about the burial of your friend's mother who was disappeared during Argentina's dictatorship. This is a deep philosophical question, but why do you think it matters that we find the body after all that time that we have the burial? Why does that matter to us so much?

[D]

Because grieving is important. People don't go through that process. It's absolutely cruel. We don't know what. What happens after death. And the only comfort we have is the comfort of grieving, of paying respects, of having a place to go and remember memory. It's a rite.

[C]

You visit a lot of cemeteries with all of this history, with colonial settlers, with the marginalized, the disappeared. They're buried maybe not side by side or I guess how do you see like those distinctions in life, classism and all of this stuff play out in cemeteries. And is there maybe one cemetery where you felt the contrast most striking?

[D]

Well, in every cemetery you have like the rich at the beginning or most of the time the rich at the beginning with the marble, et cetera, the middle class and then the people on the ground. But sometimes it's in different cemeteries. And New Orleans, for example. And then there's, for example, what happens a lot in post colonial societies like Argentina or Australia. An island in Argentina is called Island Martin Garcia and an island in Australia that's called Rodney's Island. White settlers that have their cemetery with their colonial family saying they came from this and this place in Europe. And then you have a mostly unmarked in the case of Australia, for the aboriginals and from the indigenous people in Argentina. So yes, you can see it sometimes in the same cemetery, sometimes in two cemeteries in the same town. But it's the same as life. That's what's very striking.

[C]

When you're going to these cemeteries, do you often meet people who also have the same interest as you? In cemeteries do you meet fellow travelers?

[D]

I do sometimes, Rarely. What you meet a lot is what I call peregrines, people that go to see a special grave and you are going to visit the same person. And sometimes you recognize each other like we see each other. Yeah, there's a very strange. I guess I'm one of those strange people too, but to me the others look strange.

[C]

Well, you went to the Paris catacombs to see what remains of the Holy Innocent Cemetery. But you take a souvenir.

[D]

Oh, God, that's. That's illegal.

[C]

Well, it's in the book, though.

[D]

I know, but when things are in books, you can always say, well, that's. It's a bit of fiction. I can say that. But this is a nonfiction book, so, you know, whatever. But I went to the catacombs, and I'm fascinated by this cemetery because it's featured in many, many books I love. And I said, okay, I'm going to take a little bone with me. I mean, I fully respect the people in the catacombs in Paris and stuff, but the security is not great.

[C]

Clearly.

[D]

Clearly. Because it was not difficult to do that.

[C]

You may not want to say if you still have it, because the authorities may be listening, but what do you think of something like that in the recept respect for the dead? Do you take that seriously?

[D]

Yes, I. Of course, I think that the dead may be. It was a moment of insanity. Okay, it's very wrong. But since I been very respectful with it. But I also think, taking it more lightly, that sometimes I think when I'm doing these investigations and, you know, walking there and taking my notes and seeing what's written on the graves and the fact that the dead are so lonely, sometimes I think that, yes, that you can be a bit less solemn and respectful and go there and have some. Have a Coke and have a chat. There were people. They are people, and I think they would like a friend. It sounds weird, but it's not. I wouldn't like to be there lonely forever.

[C]

Because you could have some joy. Yeah, you could have some joy around you. Do you know where you want to be buried? I think you talk about this in. And how did you decide?

[D]

The cemetery of Recoleta in Buenos Aires, where Eva Peron is buried among other people, but the most famous is Eva Peron Evita. It's a very aristocratic cemetery. Therefore, you only can be buried there if you are a member of one of those aristocratic families, which I'm not. Since I'm not an aristocratic person, I have to occupy that. And the only way to occupy that cemetery is, you know, to have someone put my ashes there. And I want them to be thrown in a grave that. It's a pyramid that says, there's nothing here, only dust and bones. Nothing.

[C]

That's Mariana Enriquez. Her new book, Somebody is Walking on youn Grave, comes out on Tuesday. Thank you so much for joining us.

[D]

No, thank you. It was great.

[B]

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[C]

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