For Spanish and Latin American audiences writer Rafael Chirbes is quite well known. But Americans haven’t had the chance to read Chirbe’s books yet because unfortunately, only 3% of published books in the American market are translations. On Tuesday March 29 you will have the opportunity to meet one of the most interesting contemporary Spanish writers. He will talk about cities, the central theme that pervades his whole production.
Entitled ‘Discover the city’ Chirbes proposes a very personal voyage through memory and literature, where the vital and aesthetic experience of discovering the city as a child it is key. The city is the space in which our lives unfold. For foreigners, all cities are alike, whether it is Valencia or New York. In an imaginary conversation with Walt Whitman and Martin Santos the city of our memories (of raw materials, of workers, of markets and streetcars) appears as a place where possibilities are endless, where the sensory experience has no limits and where the eroticism of the unknown shows us words, goods and bodies. The city described with the written word connects the richness boasted by the contemporary Spanish citizen to the poverty that the cities of the past won’t forget. In memory and in writing the city is also a territory where time expresses itself, it expresses what lasts, disappears, as well as all its failures.
About the author
Rafael Chirbes was born in Tabernes de Valldigna, near Valencia, Spain, in 1949. Early on in his life he was drawn to big cities like Salamanca, Madrid, and Barcelona. After finishing his studies in modern history in Madrid, he wrote literature and film reviews, as well as reportage for various journals. He lived in Paris and then, for some years, in Morocco, where he gave Spanish lessons. After his return, 'Mimoun' was published in 1988, the intense character study of a writer who retreats to a Moroccan village to complete his novel. But due to cultural estrangement, and above all, due to the abysses of his own personality, he fails. The precise description of the maelstrom threatening to suck in the protagonist corresponds with the clear-cut, explicit language that depicts nature. A keen, observant eye is as typical of Chirbes as his empathy with his manifold characters from diverse social and geographical backgrounds. The following novels tackling the Franco regime and its aftermath gained Chirbes (whose paragons are, among others, Max Aub and Juan Mars) a reputation as an outstanding literary chronicler of Spain. In 'Los disparos del cazador' Chirbes lets an old man look back on his career during the dictatorship; in 'La buena letra' a woman reflects on how the opportunism of some family members affected her personal fate. The internal monologues not only express their hopes and disappointments, but also mirror the course of Spanish history. The plots develop on the basis of these broken memories, a narrative principle also followed by 'La larga marcha' and 'La caída de Madrid'. Their structure is, however, more complex; here, the varying points of view of the many individual characters compose one large picture. "What I am writing about the Franco era today is, of course, expressed from a distance to the events described. The perspective has changed. It is not a question of historiography, but of memories: my personal memories during the act of writing." His most recent book, 'Los viejos amigos', reflects upon the end of the civil war generation and their ideals. Apart from his work as an author, Rafael Chirbes writes travel reports for a gourmet magazine. He lives in a village between Valencia and Alicante. In 2008 he was awarded Spanish National Award Premio de la Critica.
For more information or to request an interview with the author don't hesitate to contact me.
About Instituto Cervantes New York ICNY
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Instituto Cervantes New York belongs to the Instituto Cervantes network of cultural centers. Instituto Cervantes is an institution that was founded by the Spanish government in 1991 to promote the Spanish language and Spanish and Hispanic-American culture. The central head office is located in Madrid and in Alcalá de Henares ( Madrid), birthplace of the writer Miguel de Cervantes. Instituto Cervantes is present on five continents with more than 50 centers spread out across many different countries.
Our institution is also responsible for organizing the DELE exams- Diploma de Español como Lengua Extranjera - (Diploma in Spanish as a Foreign Language), as well as issuing official certificates and diplomas for the participants of our courses; organizing Spanish courses; organizing training courses for teachers; supporting Hispanists in their activities and encouraging cultural activities in collaboration with other organizations.
The work of Instituto Cervantes is directed by representatives from the academic, cultural and literary world within the field of Spanish and Hispanic-America. In New york, the Institute collaborates with museums, galleries, theatres, publishing houses and other cultural institutions, as well as Spanish and Latin-American organizations.
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