Interviews With Spanish Writers

Contrary to received opinion, Spanish literature didn't die with the gunning down of Garcia Lorca in 1936; it went underground, spoke in code, and kept alive until the end of the Franco dictatorship. Since then, literary production has bees so prolific that critics are talking of a new Renaissance of Spanish letters. Gazarian Gautier follows her successful Interviews with Latin American Writers (1989) with this companion volume devoted to two dozen of Spain's most significant writers: Rafael Alberti, Fernando Arrabal, Juan Benet, Antonio Buero Vallejo, Jose Maria Carrascal, Jose Lius Castillo Puche, Camilo Jose Cela, Carmen Conde, Miguel Delibes, Lidia Falcon, Juan Goytisolo, Carmen Laforet, Juan Marse, Carmen Martin Gaite, Ana Maria Matute, Eduoardo Mendoza, Rosa Montero, Antonio Munoz Molina, Justo Jorge Padron, Julian Rios, Jose Lius Sampedro, Gonzalo Torrente Ballester, Francisco Umbral, and Manuel Vazquez Montalban. The Spanish Civil War and censorship under Franco are two recurring topics as these writers situate their work in a political context, while discussions of influences and affinities establish an aesthetic context. With the approach of the 500th anniversary of Columbus's discovery of America, Spain is attracting considerable attention and Interviews with Spanish Writers should an important collection for that event and for years to come.