Blog del Instituto Cervantes de Dublín

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: 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

Borges vs Joyce

Carlos Gamerro y Juan Cruz se encuentran en el Cervantes de Dublín para hablar sobre dos de los escritores que más han dado que hablar en la literatura del siglo XX: James Joyce y Jorge Luis Borges.

Carlos Gamerro meets Juan Cruz at the Instituto Cervantes Dublin to talk about the impact of two most inspiring writers: James Joyce and Jorge Luis Borges.

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.

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.

Juan Cruz Ruiz, periodista, escritor y editor nacido en el Puerto de la Cruz (Tenerife) en 1948 es nuestro autor del mes de junio de 2011.

Juan Cruz estudió Periodismo e Historia en la Universidad de La Laguna y comenzó a escribir en prensa en el semanario Aire Libre con sólo trece años de edad.

Es miembro fundador de El País, donde ejerció también tareas muy diversas, entre otras, la de corresponsal en Londres, jefe de Opinión y redactor jefe de Cultura. Actualmente es adjunto a la dirección del periódico.

Juan Cruz nos visitará el próximo día 16 de junio para hablarnos sobre “El sueño del celta”, última novela del Premio Nobel Mario Vargas Llosa el martes 14 de junio, a las 18h, en nuestro Café Literario.

Con él celebraremos nuestra entrevista digital mensual. Ya podéis enviar vuestras preguntas sobre sus obras, o sobre Mario Vargas Llosa. Juan responderá a ellas el mismo día 14 de junio, de 16.30h a 17.30h, hora de Dublín.

Juan Cruz, journalist, writer and editor was born in Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife, in 1948. He is our author of the month in June 2011.

He studied Journalism and History in the Universidad de la Laguna, Tenerife, and started writing for the press in the weekly sports newspaper Aire Libre, at just thirteen years of age.

He is one of the founding members of Spanish newspaper El País, where he has performed a wide variety of roles, amongst others, correspondent for London, head of the Opinion and Analysis section, and editor in chief of the Culture section. He is currently Assistant Director of the newspaper.

Juan Cruz will discuss “The Dream of the Celt”, the most recent novel, recently published in English, by Mario Vargas Llosa, 2011 winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, on Tuesday 14th June, at 6pm in our Café Literario, here at Instituto Cervantes.

We will also be hosting a virtual interview with Juan on our library’s blog, whereby you can ask him questions about his own work or that of Mario Vargas Llosa. You can send in your questions as of now, Juan will answer them live on Tuesday 14th June, from 4.30pm to 5.30pm.

Diego Valverde Villena: La curiosidad te permite estar siempre vivo, y de algún modo, no tener edad

Entrevista con Diego Valverde Villena 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 Anamaría Crowe Serrano.

Diego Valverde Villena (San Isidro, Lima, Perú, 1967) es licenciado en Filología Hispánica, Inglesa y Alemana por la Universidad de Valladolid. Entre 2002 y 2004 trabajó en la Secretaría de Estado de Cultura del Gobierno de España. También fue director de la Feria del Libro de Valladolid de 2006 a junio de 2009. Desde 2010 es profesor visitante en la Universidad Mayor de San Andrés de La Paz. De su obra poética cabe destacar títulos como El difícil ejercicio del olvido (1997), No olvides mi rostro (2001), Infierno del enamorado (2002), o El espejo que lleva mi nombre escrito (2006). En 2007 estrenó Iconos, obra para soprano y piano, con música de Juan Manuel Ruiz, publicada en 2008. Un segundo de vacilación, antología de su poesía, fue publicada en 2011.

Carmen Sanjulián: —¿Quién es Diego Valverde Villena?

Diego Valverde Villena: —Bueno, preguntado así, te diré la respuesta de corazón y profunda: soy el hijo de Fermín y Chati, que son los nombres con los que yo, cuando tenía dos años, llamaba a mis padres en Lima. En el caso de mi madre, era un apelativo cariñoso. Mi padre se llamaba Fermín. Yo no les decía papá y mamá, sino Fermín y Chati, como les decía el resto de la gente, los amigos de mis padres.

En el fondo en el fondo, de verdad verdadera, ese soy yo. Exactamente soy el hijo de Fermín y Chati y todas las cosas que soy, que he sido y posiblemente que seré, vienen de ellos, de todo lo que he recibido de ellos. Todo estaba ya en origen ahí. Lo demás, todo es expansión de lo que me han dado.

Carmen Sanjulián: —Explícanos un poco eso de un «Orfeo criollo», que decías en una entrevista, una biografía.

Diego Valverde Villena: —Sí, es un texto que además sé que lo tenéis aquí en vuestra estupenda colección. Por cierto, os agradezco el trabajo de documentación que hacéis aquí, y en el Cervantes en general.

Lo titulaba «Soy un Orfeo criollo» porque me gusta mucho la figura de Orfeo. Me parece muy interesante el emblema del artista, no solo el poeta, sino alguien que siempre está buscando algo que está un paso más allá y siempre está en el límite de desvanecerse. Y entre las cosas que busca, aparte del arte y la obra de arte, está la persona amada, está su amada. En general, el mito acaba mal, pero gracias a Dios hay algunas versiones, una ópera, que acaba bien.

Yo confío en ser ese Orfeo para el que las cosas acaban bien. Y soy criollo porque soy de ahí: soy hijo de español y americana (en mi caso, mi madre boliviana, de Potosí). Nacido en América, en Lima. Siempre me he sentido un español de América, que es una manera muy bonita de ser español y de ser americano. Tengo esas dos cosas.

Carmen Sanjulián: —¿Perder la curiosidad es una forma de muerte?

Diego Valverde Villena: —No sé si decirlo tan duramente, pero desde luego para mí la curiosidad es fundamental. La curiosidad como vicio es algo muy feo, pero como virtud es algo maravilloso. Es algo que te permite estar siempre vivo.

La curiosidad te permite, de algún modo, no tener edad, siempre estar buscando cosas y siempre disfrutar de la vida. Creo que es muy importante lo de disfrutar de la vida… Tantas cosas por ahí que tenemos y no nos damos cuenta, pero están al lado. Qué decir aquí, en una biblioteca donde, mires donde mires, hay maravillas, y una línea te puede cambiar la vida, te puede hacer que despiertes a muchas cosas. Yo creo que la curiosidad es algo importante.

Carmen Sanjulián: —Una pasión

Diego Valverde Villena: —Eso es como si me preguntaras qué poema te gusta más, qué poeta te gusta más, qué canción, qué música… Tengo muchas pasiones, muchísimas pasiones personales y cosas que me fascinan. Incluso no sé si la literatura es mi principal pasión. Es a lo que me dedico. Pero desde siempre disfrutaba muchísimo con cosas que, al no hacerlas yo, me parecían aún más mágicas. Como la música, por ejemplo, o el cine. Por darte un ejemplo: yo nunca he llorado con un texto. Bueno, con cartas sí, pero nunca con un texto literario. Sí con películas y con música. A veces, si oigo una música, tengo que dejarlo todo.

Carmen Sanjulián: —¿Hay algún lugar al que recurres con frecuencia?

Diego Valverde Villena: —¿Un lugar en el espacio? Pues, no tanto así… Me gustan mucho las ciudades grandes, eso sí. Nací en Lima, que cuando nací yo tenía tres millones. Ahora está con diez millones. Vivo en Madrid. También está simpático, con cuatro millones, casi cinco. En general, soy bastante feliz en las ciudades grandes: Berlín, o París o Roma. Pero bueno, tampoco es tan importante. En el fondo es como en el romancero: «Allá se me ponga el sol do tengo el amor».

Carmen Sanjulián —¿El olvido es un ejercicio difícil?

Diego Valverde Villena: —«El olvido». Estás aludiendo a un título mío. En el fondo, para mí es un ejercicio imposible. Veo que sale el olvido en dos títulos de libros míos, quizás porque es algo que no tengo. Tengo muchísima memoria, gracias a Dios, y la memoria es bagaje tuyo. Una persona que pierde la memoria no es nadie.

En mi caso sí, el olvido es algo que no existe. Tomo una cita de Borges que dice: «solo una cosa no hay, es el olvido». En mi caso, en general, es una carga muy constante de quién eres.

Carmen Sanjulián: —Un sueño.

Diego Valverde Villena: —Hacer las cosas que tengo que hacer y poder ser digno de todas las cosas que me han llegado de mis antepasados, todas las cosas que se me han dado de algún modo para que haga algo con ellas. Intentar ser digno de eso.

Carmen Sanjulián: —Diego, sería una pena tenerte aquí y no pedirte que leyeses algunos de tus poemas. Nos vas a leer dos poemas. ¿Nos puedes explicar cómo surgieron?

Diego Valverde Villena: —Sí, voy a leer dos poemas que hacen pareja, que nacieron juntos. Les tengo mucho cariño porque son los dos primeros poemas con los que ya decido que estoy contento con lo que estoy escribiendo.

Yo estaba en una estancia de estudios en Chicago y escribí estos dos poemas en los que se juntan el bloque principal de mis temas. Temas recurrentes que son el viaje, el libro, la obra de arte, la mujer y el amor, y el destino. Ahí están los temas que van a salir en casi todo el resto de mi obra.

Carmen Sanjulián: —Vamos a empezar con el poema «Metro de Chicago».

Diego Valverde Villena:

METRO DE CHICAGO

A lo largo del viaje

la mujer de tu vida se te escapa repetidas veces,

siempre en el lado opuesto de la vía,

en el otro andén,

en la otra cola,

saliendo del museo o del restaurante cuando tú entras:

un segundo de vacilación es suficiente.

Carmen Sanjulián: —Y para acabar esta entrevista lo hacemos con «Como un libro»

Diego Valverde Villena: —Aquí mismo tenéis, como en todas las bibliotecas del mundo, los cartelitos que dicen que por favor no se recoloquen los libros, que se dejen en la mesa, que para eso están los bibliotecarios, alma del Cervantes junto con los profesores, para ponerlos en su sitio. Y yo estaba en esa época en Chicago, en una biblioteca que tenía por aquel entonces siete millones de volúmenes. Uno se imagina que el libro mal colocado está perdido para los restos. Pensando en esa idea del pobre libro perdido y cómo se encontraría o recuperaría escribí…

COMO UN LIBRO

Perdido,

abandonado entre filas extrañas,

rehén de congéneres fortuitos que entienden otro idioma,

víctima del azar de un bibliotecario burlón

o una mano inexperta,

solo y soslayado,

hasta que alguien me encuentre.

Enlaces relacionados

• [Vídeo] Entrevista realizada a Diego Valverde Villena en el Instituto Cervantes de Dublín por Carmen Sanjulián.
• Poemas de Diego Valverde Villena en Aurora Boreal.
• Ensayo de Julio Martínez Mesanza sobre la obra de Diego Valverde Villena.

< Listado de entrevistas

Más que poesía

Recital literario / Literary reading con Diego Valverde Villena y Anamaría Crowe Serrano.

Poemas de / Poems by Diego Valverde Villena y Anamaría Crowe Serrano

31/05/2011 (18:00 h)

Instituto Cervantes – Café Literario
Lincoln House, Lincoln Place
2 Dublin
(IRLANDA)

Diego Valverde Villena is a Spanish poet of Peruvian origin and Bolivian roots.

Anamaría Crowe Serrano is Irish and lives in Dublin. She works as a teacher of Spanish and translator of contemporary poetry from Italian and Spanish into English.

Más información / More info

Lois Pereiro, nacido en Monforte, Galicia, en 1958, y fallecido 38 años más tarde en su tierra, es “el poeta punk hecho clásico”, según titula el diario Público en un artículo muy interesante dedicado a su vida y a su obra.

Pereiro, víctima del aceite de colza desnaturalizado, de la heroína y del sida escribió que “El cuerpo es una poesía de batalla / una carnicería en el cerebro”.

Hoy el Día de las letras Gallegas está dedicado a él.

El poeta punk hecho clásico

Día das letras galegas

Collected poems by Lois Pereiro

Lois Pereiro en Galego, presentación SlideShare

Lois Pereiro en Blog Galiza

Real Academia Galega

Lois Pereiro, born in Monforte, Galicia, in 1958, and who died 38 years later in his home land, is the “classic punk poet”, according to the title of a very interesting article by Público daily newspaper dedicated to his life and work.

Pereiro, a victim of denatured rapeseed oil, heroin, and AIDS, wrote that “The body is battle poetry / a butcher’s in the brain”. / a slaughter in the brain”.

Today, Galician Literature Day is dedicated to him.

El poeta punk hecho clásico

Día das letras galegas

Collected poems by Lois Pereiro

Lois Pereiro en Galego, presentación SlideShare

Lois Pereiro en Blog Galiza

Real Academia Galega

Continuamos nuestra serie de encuentros literarios en la biblioteca “5 minutos con… “ Luis Alberto de Cuenca

Carmen San Julián  charla con el poeta madrileño sobre sus lecturas y aficiones. Luis Alberto de Cuenca, nuestro autor del mes de marzo, nos visitó para celebrar con nosotros el Día Mundial del Libro en Irlanda.

Esperamos que os guste.

We continue our series of literary encounters in the library “5 minutes with…” Luis Alberto de Cuenca

Carmen San Julián chats to the poet from Madrid about his reading habits and hobbies.  Luis Alberto de Cuenca, our author of the month in March, paid us a visit to celebrate World Book Day with us, here in Ireland.

We hope you enjoy it.

Laura Freixas (Barcelona, 1958) estudió en el Liceo Francés de su ciudad. Se licenció en Derecho en 1980, pero se ha dedicado siempre a la escritura. Se dio a conocer en 1988 con una colección de relatos, El asesino en la muñeca.

En 1997 se publicó su primera novela, Último domingo en Londres, a la que siguieron Entre amigas (1998) y Amor o lo que sea (2005). Ha publicado también otro libro de relatos (Cuentos a los cuarenta, 2001) y una autobiografía: Adolescencia en Barcelona hacia 1970 (2007).

Paralelamente a su obra narrativa, Laura Freixas ha desarrollado una intensa labor como estudiosa y promotora de la literatura escrita por mujeres. En 1996 coordinó y prologó una antología de relatos de autoras españolas contemporáneas, Madres e hijas (que alcanzó 9 ediciones en el primer año), y en 2000 publicó el influyente ensayo Literatura y mujeres. En 2009 vio la luz otra antología de parecidas características, Cuentos de amigas, así como la obra La novela femenil y sus lectrices (Premio Leonor de Guzmán).

Ha sido editora, crítica literaria y traductora. Fundó y dirigió de 1987 a 1994 la colección literaria El espejo de tinta, de la editorial Grijalbo, donde publicó por primera vez en España a Amos Oz y Elfriede Jelinek, entre otros autores. Ha ejercido la crítica literaria en El País y traducido los diarios de Virginia Woolf y de André Gide, así como las cartas de Madame de Sévigné. Dirigió el número monográfico de Revista de Occidente consagrado al diario íntimo en España (julio-agosto 1996). Colabora regularmente en distintos medios: Babelia (suplemento cultural de El País), Revista de libros, Letras libres, Mercurio… y es columnista del periódico La Vanguardia.

Ha publicado libros de divulgación como Taller de narrativa (1999) y una biografía de la escritora brasileña Clarice Lispector bajo el título Ladrona de rosas (2010).

Imparte talleres literarios en diversas instituciones y ha sido profesora, conferenciante o escritora invitada en numerosas Universidades españolas y extranjeras (Estocolmo, Budapest, Londres, Edimburgo…), especialmente de Estados Unidos (Cornell, Virginia, Rutgers, City University de Nueva York, entre otras). En 2010 ha sido profesora visitante en la Universidad norteamericana de Dartmouth College.

Forma parte del Parlamento Cultural Europeo y preside la asociación Clásicas y Modernas para la igualdad de género en la cultura.Tras haber residido en Francia e Inglaterra, vive en Madrid desde 1991.

Laura Freixas charlará sobre Carmen Martín Gaite y con todos los asistentes al acto del martes 3 de mayo, a las 18h, en nuestro Café Literario.

También vamos a celebrar una entrevista digital con Laura en la bitácora de la biblioteca. Podéis enviar vuestras preguntas sobre sus obras, o sobre Carmen Martín Gaite. Laura responderá a ellas el mismo día 3 de mayo, de 16.30h a 17.30h, hora de Dublín.

Consulta la entrevista de los lectores con Laura Freixas

Laura Freixas (Barcelona, 1958) studied at the FrenchSchool in her home city. She got a BA degree in Law in 1980 but she has always been dedicated to writing. She was first known in 1988 for her collection of short stories, El asesino en la muñeca (The Wrist Murderer).

In 1997 her first novel Último domingo en Londres (Last Sunday in London) was published, followed by Entre amigas (Just between Friends, 1998) and Amor o lo que sea (Love or Whatever It Is, 2005). She has also published another collection of short stories (Cuentos a los cuarenta, Tales at the Age of Forty, 2001) and an autobiography: Adolescencia en Barcelona hacia 1970 (A Teenager in Barcelona Around 1970, 2007).

Along with her contribution to fiction Laura Freixas has developed an intense work both as a scholar and a promoter of literature written by women. In 1996 she compiled and wrote the prologue for an anthology of short stories by Spanish contemporary female authors, Madres e hijas (Mothers and Daughters, which reached nine editions during its first year), and in 2000 she published the influential essay Literatura y mujeres (Women and Literature).  In 2009, Cuentos de amigas (Women Friends), another anthology of similar characteristics was published, as well as the work La novela femenil y sus lectrices (Ladies’ Novels and Lady Readers, ‘Leonor de Guzmán’ Award).

She has also worked as a Spanish language assistant at two British universities, as a publisher, a literary critic for El País and a translator. At present she teaches literature workshops for different institutions, she writes as a columnist for the newspaper La Vanguardia and does literary reviews for its supplement “Cultura/s”. She is a contributor to literary magazines such as Mercurio, Letras libres, Revista de libros…

She has been a lecturer or a writer in residence at a large number of Spanish and foreign universities (Stockholm, Nottingham, Budapest, Cornell, Rutgers, CUNY…) and taught creative writing at the University of Virginia (UVA) in 2006 and at DarmouthCollege in 2010. She is a member of the European Cultural Parliament and the chair of the association Clásicas y Modernas for gender equality in Spanish culture.

After been living in France and England, she currently resides in Madrid since 1991.

We will also be hosting a virtual interview with Laura on our library’s blog, whereby you can ask her questions about her own work or the work of Carmen Martín Gaite. You can send in your questions as of now, Laura will answer them live on Tuesday 3rd May, from 4.30pm to 5.30pm. hora de Dublín.

Digital inteview with Laura Freixas

Virtual Interview with Laura Freixas, Instituto Cervantes Dublin Library, 3rd May 2011. Translated by Emer Cassidy

LMartín
Laura, which title would you recommend to the foreign reader as a good introduction to Carmen Martín Gaite’s work?

Laura Freixas
“El cuarto de atrás”(translated into English under the title “The Back Room”).

LMartín
How does Carmen Martín Gaite’s work vary from that of peers?

Laura Freixas
In many ways… For example: she had a great capacity for analysis, reflection, and introspection.

Also: her ability to mix popular culture and daily life with high culture, and to do so in a very natural way.

Also: the great richness and plasticity of her language (which, similarly to the references she made, even geographical – New York with a town in Galicia -, flowed seamlessly between popular and high culture).

Another characteristic very much her own, and perhaps the most obvious difference between her work and that of her peers, whether male or female, is the variety of genres in which she worked: novels, short stories, plays, essays, daily newspapers, autobiography etc.

LMartín
Kafka’s influence in Martín Gaite’s first novel, El balneario, is evident, as the writer herself agreed. Which other influences could we glean from her bibliography? Are any of them women?

Laura Freixas
Good question…I hadn’t thought about that. I think she was influenced by the novelists of the nineteenth century – Galdós, Balzac, Flaubert…-, also by Proust…and I’m not sure who else… I think like all good (male/female) writers, she was a voracious reader, and that means that there is no one single influence in her work; she drew from many wells.

DCarrión
Ignacio Aldecoa introduced Carmen Martín Gaite to his circle of friends upon her arrival in Madrid: there she met Medardo Fraile, and Rafael Sánchez Ferlosio, with whom she later became romantically-involved until 1970. How important was this circle to her training as a novelist?  

Laura Freixas
Without a doubt he gave her support, and security, two things which are hard to find in the case of female writers, given that they are normally more isolated than male writers. Both formal groups (academies) and more informal groups (literary gatherings), where writers exchange opinions and ideas etc., tend to be male-dominated.

The entire group took on quite a similar aesthetic approach, a realistic and critical portrait of Spanish society at that time, in contrast to later generations who opted for more experimental literature.

DCarrión
Carmen Martín Gaite spoke on the television programme A Fondo, in and around 1981, of a before and an after in her writing style brought on by a refinement of her style crucial to the writing of her essay on Macanaz. Is her work previous to this still valid?  

Laura Freixas
How interesting, I didn’t know that. But, of course, her previous work is still valid, to my eyes Entre visillos shows she had already acquired a definite personal style. I read it just a few years ago and I still think it’s wonderful, and the same goes for Retahilas, for example.

DCarrión
Some years after the aforementioned TV programme, Carmen lost her only daughter. Did this tragic loss also affect the style and subject matter of her writing?

Laura Freixas
That’s a good question, but I don’t know… In any case, don’t forget that she had already lost a son, who died just a few months after having been born. That provided the autobiographical basis for her short story “Lo que queda enterrado”, although, oddly enough, the protagonist in the story loses a baby girl, not a baby boy.

(I think the reason for that change is that the death of the baby girl in the story takes on a greater meaning: it represents the death of the little girl in the narrator, of her hopes and dreams).

LMartín
You have mentioned before that very few women’s issues, such as pregnancy, are ever examined in literature. Which women’s issues did Carmen Martín Gaite explore in her work?

Laura Freixas
Lots of them: mother-daughter relationships, the profile of a housewife, feminine introspection, women’s various roles (comparing women who work outside the home, and those who don’t, for example), the creation of female characters rarely or never dealt with in literature (the “weird” girl, the artist etc.), the critical analysis of gender roles, inequality, the relationship between power and the lack of communication between the sexes…

LMartín
What other subjects do you think still remain difficult to write about simply because they are never discussed in literature?

Laura Freixas
I think there are still subjects which are scandalously absent from literature because they are difficult to deal with, or could cause a backlash, and/or because they are associated with sub-culture (they are viewed as “women’s magazine” topics, and aren’t considered “serious”). For example, pregnancy, abortion, or the negative aspects of motherhood.

DCarrión
Are Ana Karenina, Madame Bovary, and La Regenta “real” women, or are they transvestite men who have tried unsuccessfully to reflect the interior world of women?

Laura Freixas
Ah, what a good question! When I read those novels, I had the feeling there was something the authors hadn’t quite captured, or weren’t aware of, something they didn’t manage to fully reflect. I didn’t feel they were able to construct characters as convincing or as complex as those by Carmen Martín Gaite, Virginia Woolf or Annie Ernaux.

But the difference is so subtle that it would be very difficult to pinpoint exactly. Perhaps it’s for the same reason that I never fully believe historic novels. If I’m interested in learning more about the 17th century, I would be more inclined to read Madame de Sévigné, for example.

LMartín
How is the young Spanish woman from the ‘50s, the protagonist in “Entre Visillos”, different to the young woman from the ‘70s, the protagonist in “Adolescencia en Barcelona hacia 1970”?

Laura Freixas
The protagonist in Adolescencia… has had two or three times the luck of the young woman in Entre Visillos, to have been born in a more modern Spain (in terms of the era and the region, Catalonia), in a more cosmopolitan family, and to have studied in the French Lycée. All of those influences give her self-confidence, freedom, the ability to view things with a critical eye, and a clear ambition. She is more enterprising and more self-assured.

But what she does have in common with the protagonist in Entre visillos is a certain feeling of disorientation, that something isn’t right, but she can’t quite put her finger on what exactly.

(If truth be told, to answer the question properly I’d need to reread both books, because it’s not something I had ever thought of before. Thank you LMartín, for giving me so many ideas…)

DCarrión
The back cover of that same book reads:  …an education ruled by the maxim “You must be ladies”. Are today’s young women in Spain still under pressure to be ladies, or have things become even more difficult for them, in that nothing is expected of young women any more, nor of young people in general?

Laura Freixas
I don’t know, to tell you the truth, because the only young woman I know well is my daughter, and I, along with her father, and her school (the French Lycée, cela va sans dire!), expect a great deal from her.

LMartín
Is the biographical component also an important element in your other three novels “Último domingo en Londres”,”Amor o lo que sea” and “Entre amigas”?

Laura Freixas
Yes, absolutely. All my novels have an autobiographical core. I used to feel uncomfortable about that at the beginning, but not any more, for the following reasons:

1-Autobiographers are accused of having a lack of imagination, but I think I have proved that’s not the case with my books of short stories. Besides, it is possible to be a wonderful writer while not displaying much imagination (as with Proust, or Pla).

2- In revealing my life, I’m not revealing anything most people couldn’t relate to. My life is very similar to that of any other woman born in circumstances (generational, geographical, social etc.) similar to my own.

3- The autobiographical element is only the jumping-off point. It’s like the fabric from which I make a dress: first I have to cut out the pattern, sow it, add other materials and accessories, and so on. Multiple stories can be weaved from the one biography.

DCarrión
What happened with your first novel, “Último domingo en Londres”? Why was it such “an ordeal” to get published, given that you had already published your first book of short stories? Were you not able to convince Anagrama? I imagine they were your first choice.

Laura Freixas
That’s exactly it. I think it was a very ambitious (or complicated) novel for the little literary experience (or complete lack of, if we are talking specifically about novels) I had at the time.

Aside from that, I think that gender was something of a double-edged sword in the case of my initial success (Anagrama having published my first novel, given that I was unknown and that it was a book of short stories), in that, young women have a certain charisma and that affords them lots of opportunities… but then, when they are no longer so shiny and new, they are treated as “more of the same”…

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that so many female writers’ careers (I would interested in finding out if the same thing happened in other eras, and if it continues to happen in other fields, such as in politics, or painting) take off very early and with apparent ease, and then lose speed, or disappear completely, only to reappear (in some cases) years later, as the very same Carmen Martín Gaite, Carmen Laforet, Ana María Matute, Luisa Forrellad…

LMartín
Regarding “Ladrona de rosas”, isn’t it a luxury to throw yourself into writing and publishing the biography of a Brazilian author who isn’t particularly well-known in Spain? How did the need, or the idea, to write this book come about?

Laura Freixas
It was all thanks to a happy coincidence. An editor (María Borrás, from La Esfera publishing house) contacted me to ask if I would be interested in writing an autobiography, which gave me the opportunity study a writer who had always intrigued and fascinated me, through her life as much as her work.

DCarrión
Is “Ladrona de rosas” to Laura Freixas what “Macanaz” was to Martín Gaite? Did the writing of this book change the way in which you approach your literary work?   

Laura Freixas
I haven’t thought about that, but it has changed my approach to life, or rather, it has reaffirmed one thing, namely: for years I thought being a (part-time) housewife was a good way of being able to devote oneself to writing, without the pressures inherent in having to make a living from a career (be that literature or not).

Now, through my own experience, and also because I have seen it as clear as day in the case of Lispector, I think that is a very dangerous was of thinking, and which comes at a high price. Through her letters, we see that when she was living abroad, disconnected from what was happening in literary circles in her country, she was so distressed and depressed she had great difficulty writing. And she wrote her best works when she divorced, returned to Brazil and had to earn a living. Of course there are lots of factors at work there, but that doesn’t stop it being a fact.

LMartín
“A glass ceiling prevents many women from being published”, those are your words. What can we do to break through this glass ceiling?

Laura Freixas
The first thing we can do is be aware of it, talk about it, analyse it, research the figures, to try to understand why and how it occurs… In my association “Clásicas y Modernas”, that’s precisely what we do.

DCarrión
In 2009, you relayed some striking facts produced by the Spanish Ministry of Culture: “women read more than men, the number of men and women who write literature is equal – 8% of the population – however, only 20% of literature published in Spain is by women”. Has anything changed since then?

Laura Freixas
Unfortunately not. And neither have I observed a greater awareness of the situation… except in the case of those involved: female writers, painters, composers, film directors… as evidenced by the creation of various associations of women within the world of the arts in recent years, such as CIMA (association of women in film and audiovisual industries), MAV (Women in the Visual Arts) and Clásicas y Modernas (association for gender equality in the arts).

DCarrión
Your mother’s passion for reading was, as far as I’m aware, what led you to read and to write, “to turn yourself into a book” so that your mother would pay more attention to you. What did you read at that age? Which was the book that seeded your love of literature?

Laura Freixas
My love of literature began even before I could read. Oddly, I don’t remember a particular title which marked me greatly until the great discovery I made at 19: Proust.

Patricia
You were recently selected as one of the most representative authors of contemporary Spanish fantastic narrative. Proof of that is the inclusion of your short story “Final Absurdo” in the anthology of contemporary Spanish fantastic short stories “Perturbaciones, Antología del relato fantástico español actual” (Salto de Página, 2009).

What is your relationship with the fantastic genre? What is it that attracts you to it? How would you define today’s fantastic literature?

Laura Freixas
Well, I should confess that it’s a genre which interested me when I was younger, mainly as an influence of the Latin American boom, and now it doesn’t interest me so much…

Pavel
Laura, I think men are more group-oriented than women, making it much more difficult for women to achieve important positions within society. I don’t understand why it is like that. What is your view on the subject?

Laura Freixas
You’re right, women are more fragmented, living their lives at home, not making as much use of public spaces, and tending to spend their time with family and friends more so than with colleagues or competitors.

That has to do with power: men play power games much more than we do, and that happens through men tending to relate mostly with other men, through negotiations and exchanges. As for women, I’m not sure whether it’s that we don’t know how to play those games, we’re not able to, or we don’t want to. And I think being excluded from that interplay, whatever the reason may be (which I honestly don’t know), is a price we pay dearly.

Joe
Do you think men and women write about different subjects in their work?

Laura Freixas
Although it may be rather brash of me to make sweeping generalisations, I do think there are certain areas which are dealt with more by male writers (for example, war) and others which are more common among female writers (for example, relationships between women: friends, mothers and daughters, sisters etc.).

I also think that female writers tend to construct female characters which are varied and complex, with interests and ambitions not solely focused on love, whereas male writers are inclined to present female characters purely as the lover, mother, or wife of the male character, rather than the protagonist of her own life.

Joe
Laura, a few months ago you were interviewed on the radio for the classical music programme “Juegos con espejo”, in which the person being interviewed picks their favourite music. You chose only foreign composers. Why were there no Spanish composers among your selection? Thank you.

Laura Freixas
Thank you for pointing that out, I hadn’t noticed.

It’s purely down to my musical ignorance. The little musical knowledge I have has been almost entirely handed down from my parents, who were both great fans of classical music. As far back as I can remember they would listen to Bach, Handel, Mozart, Schubert… I added more modern composers (Janacek, R. Strauss…), and apart from that, my friends influenced me as a teenager, by introducing me to Janis Joplin, for example.

Although, if truth be told, now that you mention it, I think that like many of my generation, I had certain anti-Spanish prejudices in my formative years, which carried over to my tastes in literature (I started to get out of that mind-set quite late, in the ‘90s, when I began reading the Spanish classics, of my own accord), and I suppose also in music.

Colm
Do you think that men and women’s roles in society are the same in every country? Thank you.

Laura Freixas
Not in the slightest. Fortunately so, for those of us who live in the West, which proves that gender roles are a social fabrication and may be modified.

Vicky
Good afternoon, Laura. What does Carmen Martín Gaite’s “Caperucita en Manhattan” represent to you? Thank you very much.

Laura Freixas
Yikes, that’s one of the very few, perhaps the only, of her books I haven’t read… I’m sorry. I’ll make sure to read it.

Thank you to all of you for taking part.

Related links:

• Official web-site of Laura Freixas in English.
• Podcast: Laura Freixas presents her book “Libro de las madres” La Luna en COPE: listen podcast
• Podcast: “Ladrona de rosas” by Laura Freixas: listen podcast. Nos gusta la gente. Radio ECCA
• Podcast: Laura Freixas on Juego de espejos: listen podcast
• Reviews of Laura Freixas’s books on Lecturalia
• La batalla por la identidad. Article by Laura Freixas, EL PAIS (20th April 2011)
• You can ask Laura questions about Carmen Martín Gaite
• Reviews of Carmen Martín Gaite’s books on Lecturalia
• Video: Carmen Martín Gaite: A Fondo de RTVE, watch broadcast
• Song: Fui madre a ver pasar Lyrics: Carmen Martín Gaite. Music: Rosa León.
• Podcast: Carmen Martín Gaite at la Fundación Juan March: Buscando el modo. Listen lecture
• Podcast: Carmen Martín Gaite at la Fundación Juan March: Mirando a través de la ventana. Listen lecture
• Espéculo: dedicated to Carmen martín Gaite
• Carmen Martín Gaite: Personaje en EL PAIS

Laura Freixas is our author of the month throughout the month of May.

Hoy os presentamos nuestro renovado canal de televisión en Youtube con una entrevista a Alicia Mariño.

Con ella iniciamos una nueva serie de encuentros literarios en la biblioteca titulada “5 minutos con… “ en la que nuestros profesores y compañeros charlarán con los escritores y artistas que nos visitan dentro de nuestra programación cultural.

En esta primera entrevista, Pilar Garrido charla con Alicia Mariño sobre literatura fantástica. Alicia Mariño nos visitó el pasado 3 de marzo para celebrar con nosotros el Día Mundial del Libro en Irlanda.

Esperamos que os guste.

Today, we are bringing you our recently rejuvenated YouTube television channel with an interview with Alicia Mariño. We hope this will be the first of many in a new series of literary encounters in the library, entitled “5 minutes with ….”, in which our teachers and friends chat to visiting writers and artists visiting in line with our cultural programme of events.

In this first interview, Pilar Garrido discusses fantasy literature with Alicia Mariño. Alicia Mariño paid us a visit on the 3rd March to celebrate with us World Book Day in Ireland.

We hope you enjoy it.