Javier Cercas in conversation

Javier Cercas in conversation

Javier Cercas will discuss his work as a fiction writer and his incursions in non-fiction literatura, including his latest English translated works.

Javier Cercas is a celebrated Spanish novelist, short-story writer, and essayist. His best-known work, Soldados de Salamina (2001), has sold more than 500,000 copies in Spain, has been published in more than 20 languages, and was made into a feature film. His latest novel, Anatomía de un instante (The Anatomy of a Moment), is a chilling reconstruction of the attempted coup in the Spanish Parliament on 23 February 1981, when army insurgents sought to bring fascism back to democratic Spain.

For this event, Javier Cercas will discuss various themes that arise in his work: the influence of the past on the present and the reflection the past casts in literature. For the writer, the past is a dimension of the present. Cercas will explore Spain's relationship with its recent past (the transition to democracy after Franco's dictatorship) and reflect on the reasons for the success of Soldados de Salamina and the influence it has had on his career path.

The author will present translations of Anatomía de un instante (The Anatomy of a Moment) and La velocidad de la luz (The Speed of Light).

Javier Cercas Mena (Ibahernando, Cáceres, 1962), taught Spanish at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign from 1987-1989 before returning to Spain to each Spanish Literature at the University of Girona, where he continues today.

Free and open to the public. Please RSVP.

  • Literature
  • Chicago
  • Dec 4, 2012
  • 06:00 pm

Venue

Instituto Cervantes, 31 W. Ohio, Chicago, IL 60654

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Phone

312-335-1996

More information

Venue's website

Credits

Organized by Montclair State University in collaboration with the Instituto Cervantes of Chicago.