Come on Up by Jordi Nopca in Dallas

Spanish writer Jordi Nopca joins Cristina Rodriguez for a conversation about his latest English translated book, “Come on Up,” originally written in Catalan.

Rising literary star Jordi Nopca will discuss with Cristina Rodriguez his collection of stories about how global capitalism fails young Barcelona couples in this English-language debut.

Jordi Nopca is the author of two novels and the short story collection Come On Up. Named a “Young Catalan Writer to Watch” by Culture Trip, his books have received the Proa and Documenta Prizes. Nopca is also an award-winning journalist whose work has appeared in Time Out Barcelona and Words Without Borders. Based in Barcelona, Nopca is editor of the newspaper Ara and its literary supplement Ara Llegim. Come On Up is his first book of fiction to appear in English.

In this book I try to describe the reality of the urban couple, its challenges and flaws, in a contemporary and tourist-overwhelmed Barcelona and try to convey the complexities of a city expanding from downtown to the outskirts. I also wanted to write a book from my generation’s perspective that addresses the experiences of migrants starting a new life in Barcelona and the experiences of our oldest living generation.

These stories are set in bars, malls, cultural centers, and restaurants, but also hospitals and retirement homes. Most of book’s stories include some sort of irony and sense of humor, where absurdity is mixed with despair. If I didn’t approach most of the book’s situations with some irony I would have ended up writing self-help stories, and that was something I definitely wanted to avoid. I hope my readers also believe that literature not only exposes our daily experiences but can also expand them through humor and new forms of perception.

—Jordi Nopca