Biography
My life story and what dialogue is all about
I was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to a Jewish family that emigrated from Europe before and after the Second World War. I spent my childhood away from those stories, at least consciously, but evidently a postwar atmosphere was present while we were moving onwards. Difficulties began during adolescence but, thanks to humanistic studies, I found a way to reconnect, which was reflected also in the poetry I used to write at night. New friends and vocation led me to take classes in the Literature program at Buenos Aires University, which I did with effort and passion, acquiring also a Latin American and Argentinian tradition in connection with politics.
In 2003 a professor that I admired invited me to teach the Slavic Literature course, specialized in Russian literature, and in 2005 he also offered me to work in the course of 19th Century European Literature. My training in these spaces was a mark because of its contents, but also because I had an experiential approach to those contents. During my studies and as a professor, I wrote personal journals where I used to integrate those aspects. This intensity, and the search to heal the pain I felt, through knowledge led me to dig deeper into loneliness and ultimately madness. My mother and father helped me when I could ask for help, and in dialogue with a well-known local psychiatrist I could recover with time.
In 2010 I resumed work as an instructor at a Systemic Psychotherapy Foundation to teach about Bakhtin and Dostoevsky from the dialogical perspective for therapists and social mediators. In this seminar I met my future wife and after this seminar we met Jaakko Seikkula who also taught a seminar about Bakhtin and the dialogical practice. Fascinated by the integration of theory and practice in mental health, Elisa Petroni and I were invited to Finland in order to attend the 1st International Conference on Dialogical Practices where we felt welcome and at home. Since then, we have participated in the subsequent conferences. We organized the Fifth Conference in Buenos Aires in 2019 and we attended summer seminars in Belgium and Czech Republic with masters and great colleagues.
Between 2013 and 2015 I did an MA in Creative Writing at UNTREF (Universidad Nacional de Tres de Febrero). I have searched hard for the integration between dialogical practices and literature in Argentina, both as practices that involve language and creativity; my achievements have been few, but I have had some recognition. This interchange had involved many challenges and difficulties in relation with critical traditions, the community of writers and the publishing market. Along the way, I have written a lot of material, from which I published five books. I also developed La copa del arbol (www.lacopadelarbol.com), a network platform that sought to achieve the integration between local literature, the relationship with writers and dialogical methods, which was well acknowledged and had good results by satisfying important needs during quarantine times and the pandemic.
My latest published book is A book on dialogue, and my first book translated into English, in which I intended to share a positive message of mutual help. Since 2019 its writing has been a continuous process that lasted through editorial work, subsequent presentations and feedback.
For the last two years I have been active in dialogue with Peer Supporters from the US and other countries. I have also trained online to become a Peer at Intentional Peer Support in the summer of 2023.
Currently I am attending the 3rd year of the Psychology program at Universidad de Belgrano (UB), with a real interest in therapeutic practices. I am participating in the coordination of dialogical groups with other professionals.