Prize-winning Spanish writer Marta Sanz is in Manila till April 2 to meet with Filipino readers and writers.
Sanz is in the country for the “Encuentros en la literatura/ Encounters in Literature” program organized by the De La Salle University (DLSU) Bienvenido N. Santos Creative Writing Center (BNSCWC) and Instituto Cervantes, with the collaboration of the Embassy of Spain.
Sanz will be featured in Writers in Conversation tomorrow, 12:45-2:15 p.m., at European Documentation Centre, 13/F, Henry Sy Sr. Hall, DLSU, Manila.
She will exchange views on the craft of writing with acclaimed Filipino poet and creative nonfiction writer Marjorie Evasco. Noted fictionist Susan Lara will serve as moderator.
On March 31, the Philippine PEN (Poets & Playwrights, Essayists, Novelists) will host a tertulia (socials) for Sanz at Solidaridad Bookshop in Ermita, Manila.
In attendance will be National Artists Bienvenido Lumbera and Francisco Sionil José.
“Encuentros” showcases a series of interactions and fora between writers of diverse cultures. It seeks to serve the local community’s cultural life through activities that contribute to the dynamic production of literary writing and the vibrant exchange of creative practices between cultures.
Sanz’s participation is supported by the Programme for the Internationalisation of Spanish Culture (PICE), under the Mobility grants awarded by Acción Cultural Española (ACE), which facilitates the presence and collaboration of Spanish artists, professionals or creators in the international activities and programs of benchmark foreign cultural organizations and institutions, both public and private.
Sanz (born 1967) received her PhD in Philology from Universidad Complutense de Madrid. She is foremost a novelist, having produced critically admired works such as 2001’s “Los Mejores Tiempos” (The Best Times), winner of the Premio Ojo Crítico de Narrativa.
Sanz has been commended for her mastery of the language, intensity of plot, intriguing complexity of characters, and brilliant use of irony and satirical devices as a means to convey a social comment. Her latest novel “Farándula” is set in the theater and show-biz world, and, according to the author, has established connections with the loose threads in her previous novels.
Writers in Conversation is open to the public. Admission is free. For further information, visit www.manila.cervantes.es and www.facebook.com/InstitutoCervantesManila. For inquiries, contact BNSCWC at 5244611 loc. 233, e-mail bnscwc@dlsu.edu.ph; or Instituto Cervantes at 5261482, e-mail cultmni@cervantes.es.