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Guest of Honor Pavilion
Spain, Guest of Honor
Guest of Honor Pavilion
Journeys. Silent time. Tribute to Luis Martín-Santos
Spain, Guest of Honor
Guest of Honor Pavilion
Journeys. Silent time. Tribute to Luis Martín-Santos
This year marks the centenary of the birth of the writer, psychiatrist and anti-Franco militant Luis Martín-Santos (1924-1964), who with his novel Time of silence (Seix-Barral, 1962) revolutionized the literature of the time, redefining the literary landscape. Applauded by the critics of the time on both sides of the Atlantic and currently translated into 26 languages, with film and play adaptations, it has become a contemporary classic. Martín-Santos was part of the Generation of '50, along with Juan García Hortelano, Carmen Martín Gaite, Juan Benet, Rafael Sánchez Ferlosio, Josefina Aldecoa... with whom he shared friendships, discussions and concerns during his formative years in Madrid before settling professionally in San Sebastián. However, his early death at the age of 39 almost made the writer the author of only one work. Libertad, temporalidad y transferencia del psicoanálisis existencial (Seix-Barral, 1964), Apólogos y otros otras prosas inéditas (Seix-Barral, 1970) and the unfinished novel Tiempo de destrucción (Seix-Barral, 1975) were published after his death. Recently, to mark the centenary of his birth, an effort was made to recover his previously published work Tiempo de destrucción (Galaxia Gutenberg, 2022) and his extensive unpublished material, the short story El amanecer podrido (Galaxia Gutenberg, 2018), Narrativa breve (Galaxia Gutenberg, 2024), novel, theater, poetry and essay, which will paint a more complete picture of his writing. In addition to various official initiatives supported by Spain's Ministry of Culture, Jordi Soler, Luis Martín-Santos Laffon and Àngels Gregori will discuss the man and his works; and actress Lidia Otón will read a few paragraphs from Tiempo de destrucción. "I wish my storytelling could have a musical rhythm to it."
Participants: Luis Martín-Santos Laffón, Jordi Soler
Moderator: Àngels Gregori

Luis Martín-Santos Laffón
Invitado de Honor(San Sebastián, 1958) spent his childhood and adolescence in San Sebastián. At the age of 18, he moved to Barcelona to study Information Sciences at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), which he did not complete. A tireless adventurer and traveler, he has lived in various countries. After returning to Spain, he has worked since 1998 as a translator, editor and freelance literary agent specializing in the field of non-fiction, self-help, spirituality and new trends. Among others, he has presented in Spanish the work of the mystic Osho, whose rights have been managed by important publishers such as Gaia Ediciones, Debate, Grupo Planeta and Grupo Penguin Random House.
He has worked with the press and other media on these topics, and as an editorial advisor on the OSHO multimedia collection: Biblioteca del Bienestar Emocional (2008, Planeta De Agostini). With considerable experience spanning over two decades attending international events such as the Frankfurt Fair and the London Book Fair, he has gained know-how in the sale of rights and in establishing a commercial network in Spanish-speaking countries.
Since 2004, he has managed the copyrights of his father, the writer Luis Martín-Santos (©Herederos de Luis Martín-Santos), and jointly with his siblings and in collaboration with various official, cultural and academic bodies in the country, he is coordinating events related to the celebration of the centenary of the birth of Luis Martín-Santos over the course of 2024.
He edited and published Condenada belleza del mundo by Luis Martín-Santos (2004, Seix-Barral), and he edited and wrote the prologue of the first edition in Spanish of Despierta.Una vida del Buda by Jack Kerouac (2014, Hapi Books).
He co-edited Luis Martín-Santos, tiempo de libertad with Julià Guillamón and Rocío Martín-Santos (2024, Galaxia Gutenberg).

Jordi Soler
Born in 1963 in La Portuguesa, a community of Catalan Republican exiles who founded a coffee plantation in the jungle of Veracruz, Mexico. La Portuguesa, a primitive enclave in the jungle, where the forces of nature devour each other, is the literary territory where a substantial part of its work is based.
He has written 14 novels, translated into several languages: Bocafloja (1994), La corsaria (1996), Nueve Aquitania (1999), La mujer que tenía los pies feos (2001), Los rojos de ultramar (2004), La última hora del último día (2007), La fiesta del oso (2009), Diles que son cadáveres (2011), Restos humanos (2013), Ese príncipe que fui (2015), El cuerpo eléctrico (2017), Usos rudimentarios de la selva (2018), Los hijos del volcán (2022), En el reino del toro sagrado (2024).
His novels have garnered various distinction, including the Prix Littéraire des Jeunes Européens (2012) and the Prix Jean-Morer (2020), in France; the Iberoamericano AsiCom-University of Oviedo Award (2014) in Spain, and the Poeta de América Carlos Pellicer Cámara Award (2021) in Mexico.
He is also the author of two poetry books and four non-fiction books: Ensayos bárbaros (2015), Mapa secreto del bosque (2019), La orilla celeste del agua (2021) and La resquebrajadura (2023).
Between 2000 and 2003, he was the cultural attaché at the Mexican Embassy in Dublin. He writes for the Mexican newspaper Milenio and the Spanish newspaper El País. He lives in Barcelona, the city his family left after the Spanish Civil War, and he is a Knight of the Irish Order of Finnegans.
Other activities involving the participant:
Once upon a time was love
Spanish exile in Mexico

Àngels Gregori
Invitado de Honor(Oliva, Valencia, 1985)
She is a poet and cultural manager. Her works include Bambolines; Quan els grans arbres cauen; New York, Nabokov & Bicicletes; Quan érem divendres and Jazz, for which she has received the awards Amadeu Oller, Alfons el Magnànim, Jocs Florals de Barcelona, Ausiàs March and Vicent Andrés Estellés. In 2019, she won the award Premio de la Crítica from Valencian writers and, in 2024, the Cavall Verd-Josep M. Llompart Award for the best book of the year in Catalan.
She directed Barcelona Poetry, the Sant Cugat Poetry Festival, the Lleida Poetry Festival, the meetings of the Casa Antonio Machado de Rocafort and the Mediterranean Writers' Meetings. From its creation in 2019 until 2023, she headed the Francisco Brines Foundation. In 2005, she created Poefesta, the Oliva Poetry Festival, which over the years has received the awards Premio de Fomento de la Lectura de la Fundació Bromera and Premio Difusión de la Literatura de la Associació d’Escriptors en Llengua Catalana (AELC). In 2024, she was appointed Commissioner of the Year of Estellés, in celebration of the centenary of the Valencian poet, and since 2021 she has been a member of the Valencian Language Academy.
Other activities involving the participant:
Journeys. Tribute to Vicent Andrés Estellés
Meetings (and misunderstandings). Luis Cernuda y Xavier Villaurrutia
On literature in other formats. Modern Valencian poetry. Recital and musical performance
Tuesday, December 03
20:00 to 20:50
Pabellón de Barcelona, Expo Guadalajara
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