CaixaForum Madrid and the José Manuel Lara Foundation present a new edition of 'Literary Universes'
"la Caixa", with the collaboration of the José Manuel Lara Foundation, presents a new season of literary universes at CaixaForum Madrid, a series of conferences in which renowned writers and artists will have a space in which to talk and reveal to the public the secrets of their literature and its influences, and in which to analyse their literary tastes.
The literature series has started in CaixaForum Madrid this February 26th, and it has welcomed the writers Lorenzo Silva, Najat El Hachmi and Alejandro Palomas, and the actress, film director and also writer Leticia Dolera. These guests have answered questions as personal as what situations or stories nourish or inspire them to write, or how their writing vocation was born. There was also a space for them to analyse and respond to questions of a more literary nature, such as the affinities that are established between classics and contemporaries or how other arts are inserted into writing.
Universos literarios began in 2017 and, thanks to the success of the format, is now a consolidated proposal in the CaixaForum cultural centres. In previous editions, the series has hosted artists and writers of the stature of Espido Freire, Víctor Amela, Eva García Sáenz de Urturi, David Trueba and Boris Izaguirre, among others.
→ March 12, at 7:30 pm.
LORENZO SILVA: In the dark angle
Bécquer's famous rhyme "From the living room in the dark corner..." serves as a starting point and title for reflection on the type of story that has become Lorenzo Silva's endeavor for almost four decades. There are stories that hardly appear in the newspapers, that are not in the history books, that nobody looks at, nobody sees and, by dint of not seeing them, they are forgotten. This is the natural territory of a narrative that aspires to nourish conscience and memory, taking the stories out of the dark corner in which they live, as Bécquer took the harp out of his verses forever, leaving the reader to formulate his own questions and outline, if he wishes, his answers.
Lorenzo Silva (Madrid, 1966) has written, among others, the novels La Flaqueza del Bolshevique (finalist of the Nadal Prize 1997), Noviembre sin Violetas, La Sustenta Interior, El Urinario, El Ángel Conculto, El Nombre de los Nuestros, Carta Blanca (Spring Prize 2004), Niños Feroces, Música para Feosos and Recordarán tu Nombre. In 2013 he published the essay Siete ciudades en África (Fundación José Manuel Lara); in 2006, together with Luis Miguel Francisco, Y al final, La Guerra, a book-report on the intervention of Spanish troops in Iraq, and in 2010, Sereno en el Peligro. La aventura histórica de la Guardia Civil (Algaba Essay Prize). He is also the author of the police series starring the Guardia Civil investigators Bevilacqua and Chamorro. With one of his titles, The Impatient Alchemist, he won the Nadal Prize 2000, and with The Mark of the Meridian, the Planet Prize 2012. In 2019 he published, with Noemí Trujillo, Si Esto Es Una Mujer. Since 2010 he has been an honorary civil guard.
→ April 16, at 7:30 pm.
NAJAT EL HACHMI: Writing on the border
The writer will reveal questions concerning her literary work, answering the question of how one writes between different languages, countries and continents; how one writes in a language that is not that of your parents, and what challenges, difficulties and conflicts arise when one tries to capture the different realities that one has lived through in her novels. The Hachmi will explain how in her case writing is an effective way to deal with the complexity of today's world, exposing the advantages, enrichment and opportunities that having an eye on each side of the Strait offers.
Najat El Hachmi Buhhu (Nador, 1979) has lived in Catalonia since she was 8 years old. Her first published works include Yo También Soy Catalana (Columna, 2004) and El Último Patriarca (Planeta, 2008), for which she received the Ramon Llull Prize and the Prix Ulysse. With her novel La Hija Extranjera (Edicions 62, 2015), she won the BBVA Sant Joan Prize for novels and the Ciutat de Barcelona Prize for fiction in Catalan. Her latest book is the novel Mother of Milk and Honey (Edicions 62 / Editorial Destino, 2018). She is a regular contributor to the press and different radio stations.
→ 7 May, at 19:30 h.
ALEJANDRO PALOMAS: From 9 to 99.
The one who really gives meaning to writing is not only the one who creates it, but also the one who receives it. Alejandro Palomas will tell why there is someone waiting on the other side, wanting to share emotions that he often believes are unique. Writing is ageless, it is true. Neither is reading. There is a love story woven between each reader who reads us and us, a story in which the age of each one does not matter because it does not exist. Stealing music from Gertrude Stein, we could summarize it this way: "A story is a story is a story". The rest is emotion.
Alejandro Palomas (Barcelona, 1967) has a degree in English Philology and a Masters in Poetics from New College in San Francisco. He has combined his literary creation with the translation of authors such as Katherine Mansfield, Willa Cather and Oscar Wilde. She has published, among others, the novels El alma del mundo (finalist of the Premio Primavera, 2011), Una madre, Un hijo (National Award for Children's and Young People's Literature, 2016) and Un perro. Recently, he received the Nadal Prize for Un Amor, and in 2018 he published the book Quiero. Poesía reunida (2012-2018), in the Vandalia collection. His work has been translated into 20 languages.
