MANILA, Philippines - Spanish novelist Luisgé Martín will be in Manila from Nov. 9 to 14 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 de Manila, with the collaboration of the Embassy of Spain, “Encuentros” showcases a series of interactions and fora between writers of diverse cultures.
Martín will be featured in “Writers in Conversation” on Nov. 11 (Wednesday), 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., at the European Documentation Centre, 13th Floor Henry Sy Sr. Hall, De La Salle University (DLSU), Manila. He will engage in a conversation with local writers on the craft of writing and the work of the imagination. Featured Filipino writers will be prize-winning fictionists Carla Pacis and Eros Atalia. Esteemed fictionist Timothy Montes will serve as host.
Martín will deliver a lecture on the fictionalizing of history and culture on Nov. 12 (Thursday), 7 in the evening, at the Instituto Cervantes de Manila, Unit D – Ground Floor, Ayala Tower I and Philippine Stock Exchange Tower Plaza, Ayala Triangle, Ayala Avenue, Makati. The lecture will be in Spanish.
In a writers’ tertulia, he will meet with the members of the Philippine Center of International PEN (Poets, Playwrights, Essaysists, Novelists) led by National Artists Bienvenido Lumbera and Francisco Sionil José, at the Solidaridad Bookshop in Ermita.
Martín’s novel of psychological depth, La Mujer de Sombra (The Woman in Shadow, Anagrama, 2012), received critical acclamation for its dark and disturbing portrayal of humanity’s plunge into an abyss of desire, perversion, and anguish. La Misma Ciudad (The Same City, Anagrama, 2013), set against the backdrop of the Twin Towers tragedy in New York, was hailed one of the best national books of the year by ABC España. His latest novel La Vida Equivocada (The Wrong Life, Anagrama, 2015) explores dark themes of excess and failure in the lives of a son and his father.
“Writers in Conversation” and the lecture at Instituto are both open to the public. Admission is free. For inquiries, call BNSCWC at 524-4611 local 233, email bnscwc@dlsu.edu.ph; or visit (www.manila.cervantes.es) or www.facebook.com/InstitutoCervantesManila.