Blog del Instituto Cervantes de Dublín

Nuestros encuentros literarios en la biblioteca celebran hoy el encuentro de “5 minutos con… “ Almudena Grandes

Carmen Sanjulián  charla con la escritora madrileña sobre sus novelas y aficiones. Almudena Grandes nos visitó junto a Luis García Montero el pasado mes de marzo.

Esperamos que la disfrutéis.

We continue our series of literary encounters in the library “5 minutes with…” Almudena Grandes

Carmen Sanjulián chats to the writer from Madrid about his books and hobbies.  Almudena Grandes and Luis García Montero paid us a visit last March.

We hope you enjoy the video.

Te ofrecemos un nuevo servicio de descarga de audiolibros en español. Podrás escuchar nuestra colección de audiolibros (70 títulos por el momento) en nuestra página web o descargarlos a tu reproductor de audio.

Para acceder al sistema, simplemente necesitas introducir tu carné de usuario y tu contraseña.

Aquí tienes el listado completo de audiolibros disponibles. Selecciona el título que te interesa haciendo clic sobre él, y cuando la ventana de descripción completa del documento se abra, haz clic de nuevo sobre el enlace “Acceso al documento”  para comenzar la descarga. (No olvides que necesitarás tu número de socio de la biblioteca y tu contraseña).

Si tienes dudas, pregunta a los bibliotecarios.

Browse and search up to 70 great titles and bestselling authors in the Spanish language. Download the audiobooks to your computer, transfer them to a portable device, like your iPod, or burn select titles onto a CD – for your enjoyment anywhere, anytime.

To start, visit our website or check out our list of audiobooks. You will need your library card number (8-digit barcode) from the library of the Instituto Cervantes in Dublin.

Here you are the list of the audiobooks available. Select the title you are interested in by clicking on it, and when the full description of the document opens, click again on the “Acceso al documento” link to start downloading (don’t forget that you will need your membership number and your password).

If you have any questions, ask the librarians.

Muchos de vosotros estáis ya disfrutando de las vacaciones y una buena lectura, entretenida, quizás no demasiado profunda, es siempre una buena compañía.

Durante los meses de julio y agosto os proponemos un repaso a algunos de los títulos más vendidos y más leídos de los últimos años en España.  Feliz verano.

Many of you are already enjoying your holidays, and a good book, which is entertaining and perhaps not too heavy-going, always makes for good company.

Throughout the months of July and August, why not revisit some of the books that have topped the sales lists in Spain in the past few years. We hope you enjoy your summer.

Alejandra Pizarnik nació en Buenos Aires el 29 de abril de 1936. Sus padres eran emigrantes judíos de la localidad ruso-polaca de Rovne. Flora, en su juventud, cambiaría definitivamente su nombre por el de Alejandra.

De niña aprende a leer y escribir en yiddish en un centro fomativo hebreo, y habla español con un fuerte acento centroeuropeo. Su extrema timidez le hace tartamudear.

Al comenzar la universidad, su estilo es ya bohemio y su vestimenta desaliñada. Obsesionada con su peso, comienza a tomar anfetaminas, con las que intenta también olvidar otros problemas que acomplejan su carácter como el asma y el acné.

Ingresa en la Facultad de Filosofía y Letras de Buenos Aires, pero se siente decepcionada con sus estudios. Posteriormente, intenta completar la carrera de Letras entre 1955 y 1957. Al final, se inscribe en la Escuela de Periodismo donde estudia literatura moderna y queda fascinada por Joyce, Breton, Proust, Gide, Claudel y Kierkegaard.

La terapia psicoanalítica que sigue para intentar resolver sus problemas de carácter la acerca al surrealismo, clave para interpretar su poesía que, como explica Enrique Molina, gira en torno a la fascinación de la infancia perdida y la fascinación de la muerte… “igualmente deslumbradora una y otra, igualmente plenas de vértigo”. («La hija del insomnio», Alejandra Pizarnik. Semblanza, México D.F., Fondo de Cultura Económica, 1992, p. 28).

La tierra más ajena, (Buenos Aires, Botella al Mar, 1955), es su primer libro, al que siguen La última inocencia (Buenos Aires, Ediciones Poesía, 1956) y Las aventuras perdidas (Buenos Aires, Altamar, 1958).

En 1961, instalada en París, conoce y entabla amistad con Octavio Paz e Italo Calvino entre otros. Un año más tarde publica la revista Sur publica Árbol de Diana. Los trabajos y las noches ve la luz en 1965 y los «Pequeños poemas en prosa», llegan a los lectores a través de La Nación, el 21 de marzo de ese mismo año.

En torno a esta época, la revista Sur le sirve a Alejandra para acceder a Silvina Ocampo, cuya figura literaria e íntima serán de especial relevancia para la joven poetisa.

En 1968 publica Extracción de la piedra de locura (Buenos Aires, Sudamericana).

Siquiera de forma temporal, el proceso terapéutico al que se somete Alejandra mejora su estado anímico. En 1971 publica en forma de libro La condesa sangrienta y El infierno musical.

 Sin embargo, el 25 de septiembre de 1972, con tan solo 36 años, Alejandra se quita la vida con una sobredosis de barbitúricos durante un fin de semana de permiso del hospital en el que se hallaba internada para tratar su cuadro depresivo, tras otros dos intentos de suicidio.

Alejandra Pizarnik habría cumplido 75 años en 2011. Durante el Dublin Book Festival, una de sus lectoras se acercó a nosotros y nos habló de ella. Este es nuestro pequeño homenaje. Alejandra Pizarnik es nuestra autora del mes de julio 2011.

Los datos y citas de este pequeño resumen bio-bibliográfico están tomados del magnífico monográfico elaborado por Guzmán Urrero Peña para el Centro Virtual Cervantes.

Flora Pizarnik was born in Buenos Aires on the 29th April, 1936. Her parents were Jewish emigrants from the Russian-Polish region of Rovne. In her youth, Flora changed her name definitively to Alejandra.

As a young girl, she learnt to read and write Yiddish in a Hebrew educational centre, and spoke Spanish with a strong central European accent. An extremely shy young woman, she developed a stammer. 

By the time she started university, she had a bohemian look and a scruffy style of dress. Obsessed with her weight, she started taking amphetamines in an intent to forget the other issues with which she had developed a complex, such as her asthma and acne.

 She was accepted into the Faculty of Philosophy and Arts in the University of Buenos Aires, but she was not happy in her studies. She later attempted to finish her Arts degree between the years of 1955 and 1957. She finally enrolled in the School of Journalism, where she studied modern literature and developed a fascination for Joyce, Breton, Proust, Gide, Claudel and Kierkegaard.

 Her on-going experiences with psycho-analytical therapy, which she underwent to try to resolve deep-rooted issues, lead her to surrealism, an essential ingredient in the interpretation of her poetry, explains Enrique Molina, which focuses on both her fascination with the idea of a lost childhood and with death…”both equally dazzling, equally full of vertigo” (“La hija del insomnio”, Alejandra Pizarnik. Semblanza, México D.F., Fondo de Cultura Económica, 1992, p. 28).

 La tierra más ajena (Buenos Aires, Botella al Mar, 1955), was her first book to be published, followed by La última inocencia (Buenos Aires, Ediciones Poesía, 1956) and Las aventuras perdidas (Buenos Aires, Altamar, 1958).

 In 1961, she moved to Paris, where she met and became friends with Octavio Paz and Italo Calvino, along with other authors. The following year, “Árbol de Diana” was published by Sur magazine. In 1965, it was the turn of “Los trabajos y las noches”, shortly followed by “Pequeños poemas en prosa” on the 21st March of that same year, courtesy of La Nación.

 Around that same time, through her contacts at Sur magazine, Alejandra had the fortune of meeting Argentinian author Silvina Ocampo, whose literary work and personal circumstances were of special relevance to the young poet.

 In 1968, “Extracción de la piedra de locura” was published (Buenos Aires, Sudamericana).

 Although short-lived, the therapy which Alejandra was undergoing at the time succeeded in improving her state of mind. 1971 saw the publication of La condesa sangrienta and El infierno musical. 

However, on the 25th September 1972, at just 36 years of age, Alejandra took her own life through an overdoses of barbiturates during a weekend’s leave from the in-patient hospital at which we was receiving treatment for depression, following two previous suicide attempts.  Alejandra Pizarnik would have been 75 years old in 2011. During the Dublin Book Festival, one of her fans approached us and spoke to us about her. This is our little homage to her. Alejandra Pizarnik is our author of the month throughout the month of July 2011.

The facts and quotes in this short bio-bibliographical summary were taken from the wonderful monograph written by Guzmán Urrero Peña for the Centro Virtual Cervantes.

Las novedades de la biblioteca pueden ser consultadas en nuestro catálogo en línea, como es habitual.

Para ello, seleccione ÚLTIMAS ADQUISICIONES, y elija el período de tiempo que le interesa, por ejemplo “los últimos 15 días, “el último mes”, o “los últimos tres meses”.

Ésta es nuestra selección para los meses de julio y agosto de 2011. Feliz verano.

The latest additions to the library catalogue can be consulted on-line as usual.

Click ÚLTIMAS ADQUISICIONES, then select “Dublin”, and choose the time period, for example, the past 15 days, the past month, or the past 3 months.

This is our selection for July and August 2011

List of interviews

Anamaría Crowe Serrano: What I want to do in my poetry is explore language

Interview with Anamaría Crowe Serrano held on 31st May 2011 at the Dámaso Alonso Library of the Instituto Cervantes in Dublin on the occasion of her participation in the round table discussion “More than poetry”, with Diego Valverde Villena.

Anamaría Crowe Serrano is a writer and lives in Dublin. She teaches Spanish language and translates Spanish and Italian contemporary poetry into English. In addition to her English translations of Mexican poets Gerardo Beltrán and Elsa Cross (Selected Poems, Shearsman, 2010) she has also published translations into Spanish of the Irish poets Seamus Heaney and Brendan Kennelly. As a poet, she is the author of a collection titled Femispheres (Shearsman, 2008).

Pilar Garrido: —Anamaría Crowe Serrano is an Irish poet and translator. Your second surname is Spanish. What part of Spain is your mother from?

Anamaría Crowe Serrano: —My mother is from Zaragoza, but I also have family in Bilbao. My mum came to Ireland about 40 years ago to study English, and she stayed and married my father. My first surname, Crowe, comes from my father.

Pilar Garrido: —What would you highlight from your work as a poet?

Anamaría Crowe Serrano: —For me, there are two key aspects to poetry: there’s the theme, what you want to express and, equally important, the way you express it, the way you manipulate language, how you create sound effects and how you can produce something original and creative with language. For me, that’s absolutely essential in poetry, sometimes it’s even more important than the theme.

Pilar Garrido: —When and how did you start writing poems?

Anamaría Crowe Serrano: —I started quite young. When I was 11 I had an inspiring teacher at school who instilled a huge love of writing in me. That continued in college. As my degree was in French and Spanish Language and Literature I studied poetry and loved it. I started writing poems, inspired at that time by the Latin American and French surrealists.

Pilar Garrido: —At that early age of 11, did you write in English or Spanish?

Anamaría Crowe Serrano: —I always write in English. Actually, I have a better command of English than Spanish, even though my Spanish is good but it’s more natural for me to write in English because I’ve always lived in Ireland. I’ve written maybe four or five poems in Spanish but I’ve never read them in public.

Pilar Garrido: —Which poet or poets have influenced you?

Anamaría Crowe Serrano: —There are lots. As a child, more than poetry it was Oscar Wilde’s short stories which I adored. Later on, as I was saying, at university I discovered the surrealists who have remained a constant influence. And then, when I left college, I took up Joyce whom I had never studied before. Joyce is always with me as a point of reference. I also love Cervantes’ Don Quixote. It’s a fabulous book, and while it’s not poetry, it is very poetic.

Pilar Garrido: —As we are in a country of writers, poets, musicians… who are your favourite Irish authors?

Anamaría Crowe Serrano: —In terms of poetry, my favourite is Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin, who writes in English although she has an Irish name. Her work is really beautiful. I also like Yeats. I discovered Yeats many years ago and was fascinated by him. Heaney, of course, is so lyrical as well… But I also like the experimental poets, whose poetry is more contemporary, more edgy, and it does just what I want to do in my own poems, explore language. For example, there’s a poet who lives in Cork called Trevor Joyce, whose writing is really good.

Pilar Garrido: —You have also written short stories. Which one would you highlight?

Anamaría Crowe Serrano: —I wrote the short stories a long time ago, I hardly remember them. Maybe if I was to pick one it would be “The Barber’s Shop” about the life of a castrato, set in the times of these singers, the castrati. Their parents would sell them to the Church to be trained as musicians. Sometimes these children didn’t know they had been castrated until they were adults and they didn’t develop in the normal way. I was fascinated by that and wrote a story about it. Obviously, it’s a story about a fictitious child.

Pilar Garrido: —You’re a poet and also a translator. What kind of translations do you do?

Anamaría Crowe Serrano: —I usually translate poetry, mostly from Italian into English, but I’ve also translated from Spanish into English. Most of the Italian contemporary poetry I translate is by living poets, so I can always contact them if I have any doubts or queries. For me, it’s very important to be able to collaborate with the poet. As you know, there are so many ways to interpret a poem. Sometimes you might not understand it even if it’s in your native language. That’s why I believe it’s important to consult with the poet, whenever possible.

Pilar Garrido: —I imagine the two roles are very inter-related.

Anamaría Crowe Serrano: —Absolutely. I think it’s almost essential to be a poet in order to translate poetry. And poets usually prefer to be translated by another poet because you’re familiar with poetic techniques, the solutions that can be found for difficult turns of phrase. You might also have a sharper ear, sensitive to the sound and rhythm of poetry.

Recommended links

• [Video] Interwiew with Anamaría Crowe Serrano at the Instituto Cervantes in Dublin by Pilar Garrido
• [Audio] “El bilingüismo, una manera de sentir”. Interview with Anamaría Crowe Serrano in CanalUNED.
• Anamaría Crowe Serrano’s profile on Shearsman Books.
• One columbus leap by Anamaría Crowe Serrano.

List of interviews

Comienza el horario de verano en la biblioteca, y por ello no abrimos mañana sábado.

Desde el viernes 1 de julio al miércoles 31 de agosto será el siguiente:

La biblioteca permanecerá cerrada los sábados desde mañana, día 25 de junio hasta finales de septiembre.

Reabriremos de nuevo los sábados a partir del 1 de octubre.

¡Disfruta del verano!

Library Summer Opening Hours

The library’s summer opening hours from Friday 1st July until Wednesday 31st August will be as follows:

The library will be closed on Saturdays from June until the end of September.

The normal Saturday timetable will resume from 1st October onwards.

We hope you enjoy your summer!

El pasado día 18 de junio,  el Día del Español, celebramos la ceremonia de entrega de los premios de nuestro concurso de mini-relatos Necesito España / I need Spain.

Agradecemos a todos los participantes su entusiasmo, y no solo a los autores sino, muy especialmente, a sus escuelas y a los profesores que tan bien han sabido motivar a sus alumnos.

En total, recibimos más de 50 historias con la frase “Necesito España” o “I need Spain”, muchas de ellas sobre la fiesta de La Tomatina en Buñol, o sobre la de San Fermín en Pamplona. Finalmente, aquí están los ganadores:

1ª Categoría (de 7 a 11 años)

      1er PREMIO: Abbie McD. Colegio: All Saints National School, Blackrock. Profesora: Ms. Nicola Levis.

       2º PREMIO:  Mark F. Colegio: St. Laurence’s National School, Greystones. Profesora: Ms. Guadalupe Lannin.

2ª Categoría (de 12 años en adelante)

      1er PREMIO: Ben R. Colegio: All Saints National School, Blackrock. Profesora: Ms. Nicola Levis.

       2º PREMIO: Patrick O. Sandford Park School, Ranelagh. Profesora: Ms. Mulloy.

Enhorabuena a los ganadores y gracias de nuevo a todos por participar.

Para leer todos los cuentos presentados, basta con pulsar en la categoría I Short Story Competition.

Aquí se pueden consultar las bases del concurso en 2011. Esperamos poder organizar un concurso similar el año que viene, para celebrar el día del libro el 23 de abril. Os avisaremos a su debido tiempo.

Descargar bases en español (.doc)

Download terms in English (.doc)

¡Esperamos vuestra participación en 2012!

Muchas gracias, una vez más,  a las entidades colaboradoras / patrocinadoras

Español en Castilla y León

Oficina de Turismo de España en Irlanda

Asesoría técnica de Educación de la Emb. de España

Dublín, 22 de junio de 2011

On Saturday 18th June just passed, Día del Español, we celebrated the prize-giving ceremony of our short story competition Necesito España / I need Spain.

We would like to thank all participants for their enthusiasm, and as well as the authors, we’d also like to send a special thanks to the schools and teachers who managed to motivate their pupils with such success.

In total, we received more than 50 stories containing the phrase “Necesito España”, or “I need Spain”, many of them centred around “La Tomatina” festival in Buñol, or that of “San Fermín” in Pamplona. Without further ado, here are the winners:

1st Category (from 7 to 11 years old)

      1st PRIZE: Abbie McDonogh. School: All Saints National School, Blackrock. Teacher: Ms. Nicola Levis.

      2nd PRIZE:  Mark Fagan. School: St. Laurence’s National School, Greystones. Teacher: Ms. Guadalupe Lannin.

2nd Category (12 years old and over)

       1st PRIZE: Ben Ryan. School: All Saints National School, Blackrock. Teacher: Ms. Nicola Levis.

       2nd PRIZE: Patrick Orr. Sandford Park School, Ranelagh. Teacher: Ms. Mulloy.

Congratulations to the winners, and thank you again to all involved for your participation.

To read the stories entered in the competition, all you need to do is click the category “I Short Story Competition”.

You can consult the terms of the competition here. We hope to organise a similar competition next year, to celebrate International Book Day, on the 23rd April. We will notify you of such in due course.

Descargar bases en español (.doc)

Download terms in English (.doc)

We look forward to reading your stories in 2012!

Sincere thanks, once again, to our collaborators / sponsors:

Español en Castilla y León

Oficina de Turismo de España en Irlanda

Asesoría técnica de Educación de la Emb. de España

22nd June, 2011

Nuestra serie de encuentros literarios en la biblioteca recibe hoy a “5 minutos con… ” Manuel Vicent

Pilar Garrido  charla con el escritor valenciano sobre literatura, periodismo, lecturas y aficiones. Manuel Vicent nos visitó el pasado mes de abril junto a Ángel Harguindey para presentar la novela “Aguirre el Magnífico”

Esperamos que os guste.

We continue our series of literary encounters in the library “5 minutes with…” Manuel Vicent.

Pilar Garrido chats to the writer from Valencia about literature, journalism, reading habits and hobbies.  Manuel Vicent paid us a visit to present his last novel “Aguirre el Magnífico”.

We hope you enjoy it.

Alfonso Zapico: I am very serious-minded compared to Joyce

Interview with Alfonso Zapico held on 16th June, 2011 at the Dámaso Alonso Library of the Instituto Cervantes in Dublin on the occasion of the presentation of his book Dublinés at the Irish Writers’ Centre in Dublin.

Alfonso Zapico (Blimea, Asturias, 1981) is a cartoonist and illustrator. He studied Illustration and Design at the School of Art in Oviedo and contributes regularly to various periodicals and publishers. His first professional work in the world of comics was published in France: La guerre du professeur Bertenev (2006), set during the Crimean War, and the collective volume Un jour de mai (2007). In 2008 he published Café Budapest, addressing the Arab-Israeli conflict. In 2009 he participated in another collective volume: Un buen hombre, on the daily life of SS officers. For his most recent work, Dublinés (2011), a biography of James Joyce, he received a residency at La Maison des Auteurs in Angoulême (France), and the Premio Nacional prize for comic books in 2012.

Carmen Sanjulián: —Alfonso, you’re a cartoonist, you do graphic novels… How do you prefer to be called?

Alfonso Zapico: —I call myself simply an illustrator or cartoonist. Then I write books, comics, stories which can be labelled in different ways depending on how you want to call them, but they are basically stories.

Carmen Sanjulián: —From Café Budapest to Dublinés only two years went by. What happened in that time?

Alfonso Zapico: —Well, I was looking for another story to tell. I didn’t really know what to do and then this biography of Joyce appeared. At first it was like a challenge, something new, and I didn’t know how it would end up. The publisher didn’t have much confidence in it but finally it has resulted in more than two years of work, travel and also changes. Besides, as this is also a travel book it has been a way of evolving for me, to some extent, a way of drawing all this.

Carmen Sanjulián: —What fascinated you about Joyce to the point that you wanted to make a book about him?

Alfonso Zapico: —When I started to draw Dublinés I didn’t know much about the author, I’m not an expert in literature. But, I don’t know why there is something about Joyce that grips you, that attracts your attention, that gives you the urge to find out about him. And that’s what inspired me to start Dublinés. In the end, I depicted the “surface” of this author, with his optimistic philosophy of life and his love for every detail… at the same time I was telling the real story of a guy full of contradictions, of course.

Carmen Sanjulián: —Do you also slide down the handrails like Joyce used to do after class?

Alfonso Zapico: —Not at all. I am very serious-minded compared to Joyce.

Carmen Sanjulián: —Do you think the entire story would be more interesting if it were told the same way as your biography of Joyce?

Alfonso Zapico: —I think so. At first, Joyce’s story or his literature may seem quite abstract, let’s say very distant, complicated. But the advantage of the graphic novel is that the strips induce the reader to soak up the story very fast and they create a certain complicity because the reader becomes the travelling companion of the protagonist and travels along the pages, goes around the cities together with the character, becomes part of his life until the end.

Carmen Sanjulián: —What comes first, the story or the drawings?

Alfonso Zapico: —For me, the story. Then I draw the strips with the story in mind. I’ve used grey colours for Dublinés, a realistic drawing style, because that’s what the story required. For Café Budapest, which is more of a caricature, I used black and white, which was more suitable for the story.

Carmen Sanjulián: —Which comics did you read in your childhood?

Alfonso Zapico: —The ones everybody else used to read: Tintin, Spirou, Asterix, Mortadelo y Filemón, Zipi y Zape… In short, I was a conventional comic reader. I devoured them all, those available at the library and others I found lying around.

Carmen Sanjulián: —Do you still read comics?

Alfonso Zapico: —I do. The thing is that as the comic sector has changed so much, there are so many new publications, the graphic novel, many foreign authors… The truth is that I don’t know much, now I’m starting to know more and read more comics. But paradoxically, being a comic author myself, I didn’t know much.

Carmen Sanjulián: —Tell us a secret: Have you dazzled many girls with your drawings?

Alfonso Zapico: —To be honest, I don’t think so. I don’t have the aura of the bohemian painters.

Carmen Sanjulián: —Do you take photographs?

Alfonso Zapico: —I don’t. I only took photos when I studied photography at the School of Arts and I wasn’t very skilled.

Carmen Sanjulián: —Asturias, beloved homeland… What can you say about Asturias?

Alfonso Zapico: —I live in France now and I haven’t been to Asturias in a long time. I really miss it. But coming to Dublin has made me feel a bit better because it’s pretty similar, you know. Because of the weather, the many pubs, the people talking very loud. I can feel the difference with respect to France.

Carmen Sanjulián: —Is there any difference between Asturias and Ireland?

Alfonso Zapico: —Yes, there are differences. I don’t know Ireland. For me, Asturias is special.

Carmen Sanjulián: —You write a blog with illustrations. Do you think the future of the comic, as with many other things, will be the Internet? Will we say good-bye to paper?

Alfonso Zapico: —I think the future of the comic will be the Internet. However, I don’t think paper will disappear. I think it will happen the same way as with novels, and books. The electronic comic is already a reality and I think it will do well. But I think that paper comics with a hard cover, or hardback, will continue to be published and sold.

Carmen Sanjulián: —Do you have any other historical figure in the pipeline?

Alfonso Zapico: —Not for the moment. I’ve been working on this comic for a long time and I have other things to finish. I haven’t figured out yet what I’m going to do next.

Carmen Sanjulián: —Today is June 16th, Bloomsday. What does it mean to you to present your book Dublinés on such a special day and, on top of that, in Ireland, in Dublin?

Alfonso Zapico: —It’s quite quaint. If I had been told that this would happen when I started drawing this book, I wouldn’t have believed it. But look, I was lucky that the book was finished this year, it was published in May and here I am, on June 16th, the same day Joyce went for a walk with Nora, along the strand. So it’s a great ending.

Carmen Sanjulián: —Do you see life in cartoon strips?

Alfonso Zapico: —I do. I jot down things and retain faces and details that I use later as fuel for my drawings.

Recommended links

• [Video] Interview with Alfonso Zapico at the Instituto Cervantes in Dublin by Carmen Sanjulián.
• Alfonso Zapico’s website.
• Zapiburgo Telegraph. Alfonso Zapico’s blog.
• Alfonzo Zapico in Astiberri Publishing House..

< List of Interviews

Alfonso Zapico: Yo soy muy formalito, comparado con Joyce

Entrevista con Alfonso Zapico realizada el 16 de junio de 2011 en la Biblioteca Dámaso Alonso del Instituto Cervantes de Dublín con motivo de la presentación de su libro Dublinés en el Irish Writers’ Centre de Dublín.

Alfonso Zapico (Blimea, Asturias, 1981) es historietista e ilustrador. Realizó estudios de Ilustración y Diseño en la Escuela de Arte de Oviedo. Colabora habitualmente con diversas publicaciones periódicas y editoriales. Sus primeros trabajos profesionales en el mundo del cómic fueron publicados en Francia:La guerre du professeur Bertenev (2006), ambientada en la guerra de Crimea, y el volumen colectivo Un jour de mai (2007). En 2008 publicó Café Budapest,que aborda el conflicto árabe-israelí. En 2009 participó en otro volumen colectivo: Un buen hombre, sobre la vida cotidiana de los oficiales de la SS. Para su obra más reciente, Dublinés (2011), una biografía de James Joyce, contó con una beca en La Maison des auteurs en Angoulême (Francia). Por esta misma obra recibió el Premio Nacional de Cómic en 2012.

Carmen Sanjulián: —Alfonso, eres dibujante de cómic, haces novelas gráficas… ¿Cómo te gusta que te llamen?

Alfonso Zapico: —Yo me considero ilustrador e historietista, así a secas. Hago los libros, hago mis cómics, hago mis historias que tienen una etiqueta u otra, dependiendo de cómo lo quieras llamar, pero que en el fondo son solo historias.

Carmen Sanjulián: —Dos años separan Café Budapest y Dublinés. ¿Qué ha pasado en ese tiempo?

Alfonso Zapico: —Buscaba otra historia que contar. No sabía muy bien por dónde tirar, y entonces apareció esta biografía de Joyce, que al principio era un reto, era algo nuevo, algo que no sabía cómo iba a acabar, algo en lo que el editor no terminaba de confiar. Al final, han sido dos años y pico de trabajo, de viajes, de cambios también, y como este libro es también un libro de viajes, ha sido una manera de evolucionar y de dibujar un poco todo eso.

Carmen Sanjulián: —¿Qué te fascinó de Joyce para pensar que querías hacer un libro sobre él?

Alfonso Zapico: —Cuando yo empecé a dibujar Dublinés, no sabía mucho sobre el autor. No soy experto en literatura. Pero no sé por qué Joyce tiene esa cosa que engancha un poco, que llama la atención, que provoca cierta curiosidad para hurgar en él. Eso es lo que me inspiró a mí para meterme con Dublinés. Al final, he retratado esta «superficie» del autor, con esta filosofía de vida tan optimista y tan amante de los pequeños detalles, a la vez que cuento la historia real de un tío que estaba lleno de claroscuros, claro.

Carmen Sanjulián: —¿Tú también te deslizas por las barandillas como Joyce cuando acababa sus clases?

Alfonso Zapico: —No, yo soy muy formalito, comparado con Joyce.

Carmen Sanjulián: —¿Tú crees que toda la historia, si fuese contada como tú cuentas esta biografía de Joyce, sería más interesante?

Alfonso Zapico: —Yo creo que sí. A priori, la historia de Joyce, o cuando hablamos de su literatura… todo suena como muy abstracto, muy lejano, muy complicado. Pero las viñetas permiten al lector empaparse de la historia rápidamente, generan cierta complicidad, porque el lector, cuando lee este álbum, también es compañero de viaje del protagonista y va viajando por las páginas, va pasando por las ciudades por las que pasa el personaje y es parte de su vida hasta llegar ya al final.

Carmen Sanjulián: —¿Qué viene primero, la historia o el dibujo?

Alfonso Zapico: —Primero la historia, para mí. El dibujo lo pongo luego al servicio de la historia. Para este Dublinés he dibujado con grises, dibujo realista, porque la historia lo pedía. En Café Budapest el dibujo era en blanco y negro, era más caricatura, porque también la historia lo era.

Carmen Sanjulián: —¿Qué cómics leías de pequeño?

Alfonso Zapico: —Los que leía todo el mundo: leía Tintín, leía Spirou y leía Asterix y Mortadelo y Filemón, y Zipi y Zape… o sea que yo fui un lector convencional de tebeos. Me los tragué todos, todos los que había en la biblioteca, y los que había por ahí.

Carmen Sanjulián: —¿Y ahora también lees cómics?

Alfonso Zapico: —Ahora leo, lo que pasa es que como el mundo del cómic ha cambiado tanto y hay tantas publicaciones nuevas, la novela gráfica, muchos autores extranjeros… La verdad es que no conozco mucho. Ahora estoy empezando a conocer más y a leer más cómic. Pero para ser un autor de cómic, paradójicamente, yo no conocía mucho cómic.

Carmen Sanjulián: —Confiésanos un secreto: ¿has encandilado a muchas chicas con tus dibujos?

Alfonso Zapico: —Pues no, la verdad, yo creo que no. No tengo yo ese aura de los pintores bohemios.

Carmen Sanjulián: —¿Tú haces fotos?

Alfonso Zapico: —No, hice fotografía solo cuando estudié arte en la escuela de arte y era un fotógrafo bastante malo.

Carmen Sanjulián: —Asturias, patria querida. ¿Qué nos cuentas de Asturias?

Alfonso Zapico: —Ahora vivo en Francia y hace mucho que no paso por Asturias y sí que lo echo mucho de menos. Pero por ejemplo, al venir a Dublín, me he quitado un poco esa espina porque esto es un poco como aquello, ¿sabes? Por el clima y porque hay muchos bares, y porque la gente habla muy fuerte. En Francia sí que se nota la diferencia.

Carmen Sanjulián: —¿Y hay alguna diferencia entre Asturias e Irlanda?

Alfonso Zapico: —Sí, hay diferencias. Esto no lo conozco. Asturias para mí es algo especial.

Carmen Sanjulián: —Mantienes un blog con ilustraciones. ¿Tú crees que el futuro del cómic, como otras tantas cosas, va a estar en Internet? ¿Le decimos adiós al papel, o no?

Alfonso Zapico: —Yo creo que el futuro del cómic va a estar en Internet, pero yo creo que no va a haber adiós al papel. Creo que pasará un poco como con la novela, con los libros. El cómic digital ya es una realidad y yo creo que funcionará bien. Pero yo creo que los tebeos de papel con tapa dura, con cartoné, van a seguir publicándose y van a seguir vendiéndose.

Carmen Sanjulián: —¿Tienes algún otro personaje histórico entre manos?

Alfonso Zapico: —Pues no, de momento no. Tengo que terminar todo lo que me queda pendiente después de este, que me ha llevado mucho tiempo. Todavía no he pensado lo que voy a hacer después.

Carmen Sanjulián: —Hoy es 16 de junio, Bloomsday, ¿qué supone para ti presentar tu libro Dublinés en un día tan especial como este? Y además en Irlanda, en Dublín.

Alfonso Zapico: —Es algo pintoresco. Si alguien me lo hubiera dicho cuando empecé a dibujar el álbum, me hubiera parecido una cosa increíble. Pero mira, he tenido la suerte de que se ha terminado el libro este año, hemos publicado en mayo y aquí estoy, el 16 de junio. El mismo día que Joyce salía con Nora por ahí de paseo, por la playa. Ha sido fantástico para cerrar.

Carmen Sanjulián: —¿Tú ves la vida en viñetas?

Alfonso Zapico: —Yo sí. Apunto cosas y me quedo con las caras y con los detalles, y de ahí saco petróleo luego para dibujar mis historias.

Enlaces recomendados

• [Vídeo] Entrevista realizada a Alfonso Zapico en el Instituto Cervantes de Dublín por Carmen Sanjulián.
• Página web de Alfonso Zapico.
• Zapiburgo Telegraph. Blog de Alfonso Zapico.
• Alfonso Zapico en Astiberri Ediciones.

< Listado de entrevistas

Virtual interview with Juan Cruz, Instituto Cervantes Dublin Library, 14th June 2011. Translated by Emer Cassidy.

Hector Barco Cobalea

Good afternoon,

I’d like to throw out a few questions, and chance being so lucky as to have them answered by Mr. Juan Cruz Ruiz:

– Do you think journalism is truly free, or is it subject to certain interests, not just political, but also economic, in that huge economic and/or political organisations buy advertising space from the main media providers, this being one of their main sources of income? 

– What is your take on billions of dollars being shifted in just a few days to save the banks, whilst at the same time, the Food and Agriculture Organization requested 12,000 million dollars to fight hunger across the planet and was turned down?

– Is the average citizen justified in feeling indignant?

Thank you to all involved for enabling me to send in my questions.

Regards,

Hector.

Juan Cruz
Héctor, I had written a long reply, but cyberspace swallowed it up.

In summary:
Journalism is free to the same extent that people are: within limits. We are all dependent on certain interests. Newspapers as well. Nobody is completely free. The press needs to have strong businesses behind them in order to withstand the pressures on their editorial policies. And that’s why advertising is so necessary; without advertising, newspapers would certainly be at the will of economic and political interests.

The banks were rescued with public money, and they must return that money. Without a doubt, the terms with which they were given the money could have been stricter, but it’s not true that it was given to them freely and lightly, that is just not the case. I agree that they should have been penalised for their insane dealings. But within the capitalist system, if such mechanisms weren’t possible, it would lead to global disaster. Should we change the system? Let’s change it. But, in the meantime, this is what we’re left with.

Of course citizens are justified in feeling indignant. And, not just that, but also, worried, questioning, doubtful. And to act on their indignation, so that it doesn’t anchor them down with futile feelings of powerlessness and depression.

David Carrión
Good afternoon, Mr. Cruz. What motivated Vargas Llosa to write The Dream of the Celt? Was it reading The Heart of Darkness, was it Casement’s link with Peru, or his studies of Adam Hochschild’s work…?

Juan Cruz
In my opinion, Vargas Llosa always begins writing a new project once his imagination is sparked, and after finishing the fiction work, The Bad Girl, he decided to follow the footsteps of Casement, an Irishman who lived a controversial but fascinating life.

Bringing this life to the masses required an enormous intellectual, literary, and even physical effort, on the part of Vargas Llosa. And the outcome reads like an adventure as told by a special envoy to hell itself.

The author himself explained that it was reading Conrad, in particular, that motivated him to write this spectacular narrative essay. He is a voracious reader; he wanted to really scrutinise the finer details of a character, and that’s where Roger Casement comes in, in full-body portrait, right to the depths of his misfortunes.

Laura Martín
Is The Heart of Darkness a racist book, or a damning report of European colonisation? What was the aim of The Dream of the Celt, if indeed there was one?

Juan Cruz
I don’t think Conrad’s book was racist; from our current perspective on racism, or inequality, we could equally be tempted to condemn Madame Bovary, for example; and I think Conrad’s literature should be read as a great voyage of the mind, rather than a sociological reflection on the author’s ideology or view of the world and himself at that particular moment in time.

DCarrión
Conrad knew Casement and he wrote in this diary that of all the people he had known during his stay in the Congo, it was Casement he admired the most. So why did Joseph Conrad not sign the petition for clemency for Roger Casement, unlike Yeats, Bernard Shaw and Conan Doyle who all signed it?

Juan Cruz
Vargas Llosa dwelled a lot on that incident; I think Conrad felt cornered and slightly envious and he bore Casement a grudge, being someone who tended not emphasise his own talents, he felt outshone by Casement during his time in Africa. That’s why he left him in the lurch, and frankly, that was very hurtful to Casement. Similar to other times in his life when he felt cast off.

LMartín
What was the dream that was driving Roger Casement when he arrived in Congo?

Juan Cruz
It was a philanthropic dream. He truly wanted to play a part in the abolition of slavery there where it was actually taking place, and that’s exactly what he did. Every fibre of his being was devoted to helping people, that was what he lived for, to help others free themselves from the shackles of feudal despotism. It was then used as a symbol which some tried to make controversial by drawing tenuous parallels with his own issues with his sexuality. Vargas Llosa pays him heartfelt tribute, at pains to put right the controversy created by the British.

DCarrión
What does Mario Vargas Llosa have in common with Antonio Conselheiro from The War of the End of the World, Alejandro Mayta from The Real Life of Alejandro Mayta, and with Roger Casement?

Juan Cruz
I think the only thing Vargas Llosa has in common with those characters is that he worked out the minutest details of their lives with the same intensity he then gave to their lives within the storyline, so that they would live on, and stand the test of time, in the minds of his readers.

LMartín
A critic once broke Vargas Llosa’s novels down into 4 broad categories: urbane, historical, dealing with rural Peru, and erotic novels. Could we consider The Dream of the Celt a historical novel?

Juan Cruz
I think putting The Dream of the Celt into the historical box would be to take away some of its power and impact. From my point of view, aside from being a novel which has its roots in history, it is more a great anachronistic, or even uchronic, report on a fascinating era by both Mario, the reporter, and Vargas Llosa, the novelist. And it is also a wartime plea for human rights, a book denouncing slavery in favour of romanticism, as man’s conviction to live in harmony with his fellow kind.

DCarrión
Are there any elements in The Dream of the Celt which are new to Vargas Llosa’s work?

Juan Cruz
I think what is new is the book in its entirety; Vargas Llosa always approaches a subject from a completely new standpoint. He could have put together an essay of the proportions of a novella, based on his readings, and he read widely around the subject. Instead, he honed in on the different areas of Roger’s biography, brought them together onto the one platform in his mind, and from there he went on to create a volume in which he demonstrated his skills as a reconstructor of stories, but also, as a great fiction author. He has never said so himself, never actually specified it, but Mario Vargas Llosa, the fiction author, is also present in The Dream of the Celt.

LMartín
If García Márquez’s work could be seen as a portrayal of power, and its vestiges, could Vargas Llosa’s work be seen as a portrayal of the resistance to or the growing awareness of that power?

Juan Cruz
I think that’s a good analogy. But, actually, I think all of Mario Vargas Llosa’s work has to do with power, even when it seems more to do with other subjects. Particularly, A Fish in the Water, which despite having been written in the midst of the biographical journey he was undertaking at the time, it is like the mid-point in which all of his ambitions, tragedies, and the majority of his books converge.

DCarrión
Vargas Llosa, Cabrera Infante and José Saramago. These are perhaps the three authors, and friends, who have most influenced your literary life. Is that right? Are there any others you would add?

Juan Cruz
My life in particular? Perhaps. I would add Onetti and Borges. And also, Unamuno’s poetry. And Kafka. Well, literature is never-ending. Oh, and Cortázar.

LMartín
In 1972, you published “Crónica de la nada hecha pedazos”. You said that all of your work published in book format originates from this book, because it was in this book you began using reality to narrate your obsessions, dreams, and how those dreams can be broken. Tell us about your broken dreams. Are there any still lingering around?

Juan Cruz
My broken dreams are still around. Those that aren’t are the ones I haven’t been able to break.

DCarrión
“Crónica de la nada…” is a sesentayochista chronicle [referring to the revolution of 1968] turned into a novel. Do you think one day there will be a 15M [common abbreviation for the mass protest held on the 15th May 2011, in Madrid, against political mismanagement of the economic crisis] chronicle, or would that be a book that would be worth writing?

Juan Cruz
It should be written. I’ve just interviewed Javier Cercas about the subject. He is very clear on how (extremely) important this phenomenon is. Something is changing, without a doubt, and for the better, despite this endless tide of injustice and corruption we are going through at the moment.

LMartín
The presence of the sea is fundamental in “Retrato de un hombre desnudo” (2005). What does it symbolise? 

Juan Cruz
The sea is life, and thus, it is also death. I was writing a book about the sea as life, and then death turned up out of nowhere. Life has such gravity, it fells us all.

DCarrión
In reference to “Retrato de un hombre…”, imbued as it is with many’s a travel anecdote, you said that no matter how much a person travels, “they are always in the same place”. Which is the place in which you always find yourself? And would you ever like to escape?

Juan Cruz
That’s a phrase by Beckett, and actually he was talking about his relationship with Ireland: “poor me, I thought I had left the island behind me, but the island is always by my side”.

That’s the way it is. My book is based by the sea, so that I can escape, and all of sudden, I see myself as part of the sea, the sea comes with me.

LMartín
Verne and Dickens are some of the authors you read in your teenage years as mentioned in “Retrato de un hombre desnudo”.  Were there other authors before those who also had an important effect on you? Which were the authors, or books, that made you a writer?

Juan Cruz
Before that there were the instruction leaflets that come inside boxes of pills, old torn newspapers my mother had, anything that was susceptible to being read, and an old book by Oscar Wilde, “The Nightingale and the Rose”.

DCarrión
In “Retrato de un hombre desnudo”, you pay homage to your mother, from whom you said you have learnt more than from any other person. “Ojalá octubre” (2007) is a homage to your father. Which questions, or desires, did Juan the boy inherit from him?

Juan Cruz
Uncertainty, things were always about to be either very miserable or very happy, and they were almost always miserable. But there were also wonderful moments in which he was happy. That’s the way I am, I come from him.

LMartín
Was it your childhood from that October which you would have liked to have continued forever?

Juan Cruz
I would like the feeling of childhood to continue forever. To go through all stages of life with the feeling of harmony you capture as a child.

DCarrión
In “Muchas veces me pediste que te contara estos años” (2008), you reflect on time, memory, pain, and growing older. Has this reflection led to any conclusions?

Juan Cruz
It’s a triple reflection which merges into one: our lives are inside of us, on our interior, and inside everything is mixed together into one whole. I am my literature, it explodes inside me. Does that seem pedantic? I’m afraid that’s the way I see it, if you don’t like my answer then forget it, but what I mean is: for me, writing is all of those things, time, memory, pain, and fear of dying. And if what I write doesn’t respond to those precepts, then I feel like I am merely worthlessly distorting my thoughts.

LMartín
Comparing your first book to your current work, it seems like you have given up a certain experimentalism for a lighter style. Is that one of the concessions caused by the commercialisation of the publishing world you mention in “Egos revueltos” (2009)?

Juan Cruz
Oh, not at all, LMartín. It’s simply that over the years I decided to write so that my brothers would read my work, ever since a particular text I wrote so that we would never forget the wonderful woman that was my mother. It’s deliberate, but my brothers don’t buy my books. They feature in them. Except “Egos revueltos”, for certain, although they’re in there somewhere, in some way or another.

LMartín
Would any current publishers dare to publish a new James Joyce?

Juan Cruz
Of course they would. That’s what a publisher’s job should be. To wait for a James Joyce to come along.

DCarrión
On the subject of cultural journalism, there are those who insist that it generally displays a total lack of interest in culture. Do you agree with that? What is there left in the cultural pages of a newspaper if we take away the obituaries and press releases from the various publishers’ and institutions’ press departments?  

Juan Cruz
I think any maximalist views run the risk of being unfair. There are some great cultural journalists, particularly in Latin America, where this type of journalism has become a specialism. And there are some very good ones closer to home as well. And there are very good sources of information on culture out there, despite what you say. Don’t be unfair, my friend!

Thank you very much for your participation.

Related links:

Profile of Juan Cruz on elpais.com, with links to his articles and interviews

• Reviews of Juan Cruz’s books on Lecturalia
• Podcast: Juan Cruz in interview with Mario Vargas Llosa, about the fiction in roman and drama: Fundación Juan March. 27/09/2007
• Podcast: Interview with Juan Cruz after the decease of Portuguese writer José Saramago. Cadena Ser. 19/06/2010
• Podcast: Juan Cruz presents his book “Egos revueltos”. Cadena Ser. 02/03/2010
• Blog: Juan Cruz’s blog in El País “Mira que te lo tengo dicho”
• Virtual interview: Juan Cruz. Journalist and author of “¿Periodismo? ¿Vale la pena vivir para este oficio?”. elpais.com. 17/06/2010
• Video: the 2010 Nobel Prize in Literature Mario Vargas Llosa appears in the CNN+ evening news, where he greets on live the director and journalis of EL PAIS Juan Cruz.

About Mario Vargas Llosa and “The dream of the Celt”

• Video: Interview to Mario Vargas Llosa at Cervantes TV: Voces impresas
• Video: Vargas Llosa in RTVE, Informe Semanal: El sueño del escribidor
• Interview: Vargas Llosa about Roger Casement
• Review: “The dream of the Celt” on El Cultural
• Review: “The dream of the Celt” on El País
• Reviews from the readers: “The dream of the Celt” on Lecturalia
• Official webpage of Mario Vargas Llosa

About Roger Casement

• Roger Casement on Wikipedia.

Juan Cruz is our author of the month throughout the month of June.

< Listado de entrevistas

Anamaría Crowe Serrano: Lo que quiero hacer en mi poesía es explorar el lenguaje

Entrevista con Anamaría Crowe Serrano realizada el 31 de mayo de 2011 en la Biblioteca Dámaso Alonso del Instituto Cervantes de Dublín con motivo de su participación en la mesa redonda «Más que poesía» junto a Diego Valverde Villena

Anamaría Crowe Serrano es escritora y vive en Dublín. Es profesora de lengua española y traductora de poesía contemporánea del español e italiano al inglés. Además de sus traducciones al inglés de los poetas mexicanos Gerardo Beltrán y Elsa Cross (Selected Poems, Shearsman, 2010), también ha publicado sus traducciones al español de los poetas irlandeses Brendan Kennelly y Seamus Heaney. Como poeta, es autora del poemario Femispheres (Shearsman, 2008).

Pilar Garrido: —Anamaría Crowe Serrano, poeta y traductora irlandesa, tu segundo apellido es español. ¿De qué parte de España es tu madre?

Anamaría Crowe Serrano: —Mi madre es de Zaragoza, aunque tengo familia en Bilbao. Se vino a Irlanda hace ya cuarenta años, para estudiar inglés, y aquí se quedó y se casó con mi padre. La parte Crowe del apellido es de mi padre.

Pilar Garrido: —¿Qué destacarías de tu trabajo como poeta?

Anamaría Crowe Serrano: —Para mí, en la poesía hay dos cosas principales: el tema, lo que quieres expresar e, igualmente importante, la manera en que lo expresas, la manera de manipular el lenguaje: cómo se crean efectos sonoros, cómo se puede ser original y creativo con el lenguaje. Para mí eso es muy importante en la poesía, a veces incluso más importante que el tema.

Pilar Garrido: —¿Cómo y cuándo empezaste a escribir poesía?

Anamaría Crowe Serrano: —Empecé de bastante pequeña. Cuando tenía once años tuvimos una profesora en la escuela que me inspiró el amor por la escritura. Luego continué en la universidad, porque como estaba estudiando Filología Hispánica y Francesa, estudiaba poesía, y me encantaba. Empecé a escribir poesía inspirada por los surrealistas latinoamericanos y franceses.

Pilar Garrido: —A esa temprana edad, once años, ¿escribías en inglés o en español?

Anamaría Crowe Serrano: —Siempre escribo en inglés. Lo domino mejor, en realidad, que el español. El inglés, como siempre he vivido aquí, me resulta más natural. He escrito cuatro o cinco poesías en español, pero no las he leído nunca en público.

Pilar Garrido: —¿Qué poeta o poetas han influido en tu obra?

Anamaría Crowe Serrano: —Muchísimos. De pequeña, más que poesía, eran los relatos de Oscar Wilde, por ejemplo. Me encantaban. Luego, como te decía, en la universidad, los surrealistas siempre me han gustado y siguen influyéndome. Cuando dejé la universidad empecé a leer a Joyce, al que no había estudiado nunca, y me encantó. Joyce también se ha quedado conmigo como una influencia. También me encanta El Quijote, de Cervantes. Me parece un libro maravilloso, que tampoco es poesía, pero es muy poético también.

Pilar Garrido: —Ya que estamos en el país de los escritores, de los poetas, de los músicos. ¿Cuáles son tus escritores irlandeses favoritos?

Anamaría Crowe Serrano: —En poesía, la que más me gusta es Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin, que escribe en inglés a pesar de tener un nombre irlandés. Me gusta muchísimo su poesía. Yeats también, me encanta. A Yeats lo descubrí hace años y me fascinó. Heaney, claro, también es muy lírico. Pero también me gustan los experimentalistas, poesía mucho más contemporánea, más moderna digamos, que hace lo que yo quiero hacer en mi poesía, que es explorar el lenguaje. Hay por ejemplo un poeta que vive en Cork, que se llama Trevor Joyce, que escribe muy bien.

Pilar Garrido: —También has escrito relatos cortos. ¿Cuál destacarías?

Anamaría Crowe Serrano: —Los relatos hace muchísimo tiempo que los escribí, casi ni me acuerdo. Uno que destacaría se llama «The Barber’s Shop». Era sobre la vida de un castrato, de la época de los castrati. Sus padres los daban a la Iglesia para que se entrenaran como músicos, y a veces no sabían que les habían castrado hasta que ya eran mayores y no se habían desarrollado de manera normal. Me fascinó eso, me pareció espectacular, y escribí un cuento. Es la historia de un niño ficticio obviamente.

Pilar Garrido: —Aparte de ser poeta, también eres traductora. ¿Qué tipo de traducción haces?

Anamaría Crowe Serrano: —Casi siempre es traducción de poesía, del italiano, más que nada, al inglés, aunque también he traducido del español al inglés. Pero sobre todo poesía contemporánea italiana, de poetas vivos. Siempre puedo contactar con ellos para hacerles preguntas si tengo alguna duda. Para mí es muy importante poder tener esa colaboración con el poeta. Como sabes, hay muchísimas maneras de interpretar una poesía. Aunque sea en tu idioma nativo, a veces ni siquiera la entiendes. Creo que es importante poder preguntarle al poeta, si es posible.

Pilar Garrido: —Me imagino que los dos roles están muy relacionados.

Anamaría Crowe Serrano: —Sí. De hecho creo que es casi imprescindible ser poeta para traducir poesía. Y los poetas suelen preferir que los traduzca un poeta también. Porque uno está más acostumbrado a las técnicas de la poesía, las soluciones que se puede dar a algún giro difícil del idioma. Quizás un poeta tiene también el oído más agudo en cuanto a la sonoridad y el ritmo de la poesía.

Enlaces recomendados

• [Vídeo] Entrevista realizada a Anamaría Crowe Serrano en el Instituto Cervantes de Dublín por Pilar Garrido.
• [Audio] «El bilingüismo, una manera de sentir». Entrevista a Anamaría Crowe Serrano en CanalUNED.
• Perfil de Anamaría Crowe Serrano en Shearsman Books.
• One columbus leap Anamaría Crowe Serrano.

< Listado de entrevistas

Continuamos nuestra serie de encuentros literarios en la biblioteca “5 minutos con… ” Ángel Harguindey

Alfonso Fernández Cid  charla con el periodista madrileño sobre literatura, periodismo, lecturas y aficiones. Ángel Harguindey nos visitó el pasado mes de abril junto a Manuel Vicent para presentar la novela “Aguirre el Magnífico”

Esperamos que os guste.

We continue our series of literary encounters in the library “5 minutes with…” Ángel Hargundey.

Alfonso Fernández Cid chats to the journalist from Madrid about literature, journalism, reading habits and hobbies.  Ángel Harguindey paid us a visit to present the las novel of Manuel Vicent “Aguirre el Magnífico”.

We hope you enjoy it.

Continuamos nuestra serie de encuentros literarios en la biblioteca “5 minutos con… ” Laura Freixas

Carmen Sanjulián  charla con la escritora barcelonesa sobre literatura, mujeres, lecturas y aficiones. Laura Freixas fue nuestra autora del mes de mayo. La autora de “Adolescencia en Barcelona hacia 1970” visitó nuestro café literario para hablarnos de la obra de Carmen Martín Gaite.

Esperamos que os guste.

We continue our series of literary encounters in the library “5 minutes with…” Laura Freixas.

Carmen Sanjulián chats to the writer from Barcelona about literature, feminism, reading habits and hobbies.  Laura Freixas, our author of the month in May, paid us a visit to talk about Carmen Martín Gaite.

We hope you enjoy it.