Spain
Spanish and Japanese (simultaneous translation and live streaming)
Life itself in writing
Do we have to choose between writing or living? Is it possible to explain the world we live in through literature? Can we use writing as a balm against the struggles of life? What happens with our writing when music, painting and other arts also appeal to us?
In this talk with fiction writer and poet Mercedes Cebrián we will explore all these questions and discuss the ways in which writing can reflect our interests, passions and fantasies to become a life companion as faithful as Hachiko the dog.
Mercedes Cebrián
Mercedes Cebrián was born in Madrid. She writes fiction, journalistic essays and poetry and translates from English and French into Spanish. Her writing has been published in newspapers such as El País and La Vanguardia; and in journals and magazines such as “Diario de Poesía” (Buenos Aires), «The Massachussetts Review», “Revista de Occidente” and “The Indian Quarterly.” Her literary universe explores, among other aspects of reality, the emotional ties that humans develop with objects. She has been a writing fellow at the Residencia de Estudiantes de Madrid and the Spanish Academy in Rome, and a writer in residence in the Civitella Ranieri Foundation (Italy) and the Fondazione Santa Maddalena (Italy), among others. She holds MAs in Spanish and Latin American Studies from Birkbeck (University of London) and from the University of Pennsylvania (USA). Her last novel ‘El genuino sabor’ was published in June 2014 by Penguin-Random House Spain. In 2018 she was the guest editor of the imprint Caballo de Troya (Penguin Random House).