nouvellabooks:

Are you a novelist looking for a little job security? Move to Argentina.

BUENOS AIRES — It is not enough for this city to boast cavernous bookstores that stay open past midnight, broad avenues once roamed by literary giants like Jorge Luis Borges, cafes serving copious amounts of beef and red wine, or even a bizarre neo-Gothic skyscraper, the Palacio Barolo, inspired by Dante’s “Divine Comedy.”

Now, writers have yet another reason to live here: pensions.

The city of Buenos Aires now gives pensions to published writers in a program that attempts to strengthen the “vertebral column of society,” as drafters of the law described their goal. Since its enactment recently, more than 80 writers have been awarded pensions, which can reach almost $900 a month, supplementing often meager retirement income.

Argentina’s New Literary Tradition: Pensions for Aging Writers

(via thetinhouse)