Literature

The author of 'La isla de los conejos' (Rabbit Island) took up writing to create worlds like the ones she encountered in her readings. Today, the unique universe of her short stories has become a complex scenery in which nothing is what is seems, in which the abnormal coexists with the quotidian. Come in and read. 

With her first attempt at novel writing, writer Ana Merino has become the new recipient of the 2020 Nadal Award for 'El mapa de los afectos', a portrait of America’s Midwest that captures today’s main social issues and in which references to Spain abound.

The writer brings back the crime of child killer Aurora Rodríguez Carballaira in ‘La madre de Frankenstein’, the new instalment of her series dedicated to the post-war era where the reader is submerged into the suffocating and chauvinistic Spain of the 1950s.

Immersed in an endless promotional tour, amidst talks and interviews, we stole some valuable time from writer Irene Vallejo, author of El infinito en un junco [The infinite in a Reed], to chat about the pleasure of knowledge, reading and the art of lending books, the best way, according to her, to get rid of them.

In less than a decade, Zahara has become one of the leading figures of the Spanish indie scene. Her songs reach a wide audience that also supports her restlessness and versatility as an artist. Hers is a self-managed career with an artistic stance committed to equality.

A book bound with a stippled cover. A photo diary by a band on tour in Mexico. A poetry book devised as a Duchampian readymade. A selection of books turned into a pictorial artwork by a plastic artist. The Caniche publishing house sees publishing as a space of freedom and adventure, in which each project follows its own rules.

The author of the award-winning novels 'Los Baldrich' (FNAC Talent 2009), 'Los buenos amigos' (Premio Ojo Crítico 2012) and 'El año en que me enamoré de todas' (The Year I Fell in Love with Them All), a book that earned him the prestigious Premio Primavera de Novela 2013, returns to bookshops with a story about memory and forgiveness.

Agustín Fernández Mallo has been translated into more than ten languages, which is clear evidence of the relevance of his work. Last year he published two new major books: the novel 'War Trilogy', which won the Premio Biblioteca Breve, and the essay 'Teoría general de la basura' (General Theory of Rubbish: Culture, Appropriation, Complexity), a fiction book and a non-fiction book respectively in which Mallo, a flag bearer of the Nocilla Generation, expresses his personal vision of history.

We chat to poet and writer Elvira Sastre about the current literary scene and how she has made writing her way of life. We also cover her latest project, the performance ‘Desordenados’ [Disorganised], which brings protest songs and poetry back on stage.

Photography, film, painting, literature or theatre. A tireless worker, Carlos Saura doesn’t distinguish between artistic disciplines. These days, his name is clearly displayed in an exhibition dedicated to him by the Círculo de Bellas Artes, where this genius reveals his facet as a master of images.

Paz Olivares and Weldon Penderton are Niños Gratis; a new publishing house in Madrid that is on everyone’s lips after only one year. What’s their trick? To publish books that catch your eye and touch your soul.

Writer, singer, composer, singer-songwriter. His great ability to deal with complex issues full of sentimental motivations simply and personally has brought him success, fame and recognition. In December, he’ll close the tour for his latest record, ‘Mis Paisajes Interiores’, in Madrid, during which he has offered more than two-hundred concerts in the last three years between Spain and Latin America.

Whenever David Trueba finishes writing a novel, shooting a movie or making a documentary, he is left with feelings of ambivalence. On the one hand, there is the satisfaction of a job finished and; on the other, the embarrassment of having to show his work. In order to neutralise those fears, when he is releasing or publishing something, he is usually already involved in a new project. We stole a few moments with him while he is immersed in the postproduction of his next film, 'A este lado del mundo'.

Few authors get their books on everyone's lips as soon as they hit bookshops. With a staggering ability to navigate at the juncture of fiction, essay and autobiography, writer and journalist Sergio del Molino will be at the helm of the Eñe Festival, which kicks off this week, with a focus on hybrid genres and disciplines revolving around the written word.

From writing a piece about how the Bélmez's faces ruined her computer, to interviewing La Veneno, giving a TED talk and singing with her band Los Celos. Sabina Urraca has few things left to do in life.

Literature, illustration, painting—the boundaries between disciplines have never been an obstacle for the versatile Paula Bonet to express her inner world. The coming days she will be at the Eñe Festival, which occupies a special place in her heart, with her show 'Abrir la boca y decir lo nuestro' [Open our mouths and say our thing], in which painting and live poetry go hand in hand.

Journalists, poets, essayists, monologuists and artists will participate in the 11th edition of Festival Eñe, held in Madrid and Malaga and which, for the first time, has a guest country, Mexico.

Inventive, bright, subtle or Kafkaesque are some of the most common qualifiers used to describe the narrative pulse and universe of Juan José Millás, a key figure in both Spanish journalism and contemporary fiction. With a new book under his arm, he is also one of the leading voices in this year’s Festival Eñe.

Are you a lover of Spanish literature? Can you wander around between lines and paragraphs for hours on end? Are you up to date with everything that surrounds the Spanish literary scene? We at Talento a bordo would like to see you prove it by taking our test.

Borges and Bolaño are his great influences, but Aitor Sarabia’s field of action goes beyond literature. A creator above anything else, he’s a total artist that conjures up magic in his work, lending it a healing power. His latest book is a good example of this.

In recent years, the Spanish literary ecosystem has been profoundly altered by a poetic explosion that has caused a flood of new creators coming from the insides of the internet. In addition to modifying the editorial landscape, the digital native poets have also collapsed the bestseller lists with their creative output.

Writing, diving—two ways of looking inside oneself, of fighting against the speed of the world. Marina Perezagua has been living in New York for over fifteen years, and her cosmopolitan nature permeates in her stories, set in faraway but recognisable and well-researched places. We speak to her about her last book, ‘Seis formas de morir en Texas’.

Carlos Zanón is among the greatest Spanish crime novelists, but his ambition and talent are not restricted to this genre. He is also a poet, novelist, columnist, literary critic, a lyricist for Loquillo and the curator of the Barcelona Negra literary festival, a position he has held for three years.

In his in-depth essay 'Más allá del trap (Beyond Trap)' young thinker Ernesto Castro dissects the music popularized by artists such as C. Tangana, Yung Beef, Bad Gyal, Pimp Flaco, Kinder Malo o Cecilio G, dissolving the lines between high- and low-brow culture.

Ray Loriga (Madrid, 1967) has been showing his enormous talent as a writer, screenwriter and film director for more than twenty-five years. He has directed actors such as Viggo Mortensen in 'My Brother’s Gun' and Paz Vega in 'Theresa: The Body of Christ' and written stories that have been adapted to film by Pedro Almodóvar, Carlos Saura, and Daniel Calparsoro.