Munir Hachemi at the University of Notre Dame

Spanish writer Munir Hachemi presents his book “Living Things” as part of the 13th edition of the “Iberian Studies and Transformative Thinking Series” at the University of Notre Dame.

Munir Hachemi (1989) was born in Madrid, Spain. His first stories appeared in fanzines, published by the collective Los Escritores Bárbaros. Later on, he published his first novel, Los pistoleros del eclipse, and the second, 废墟. In 2018 he published Cosas vivas and in 2021 he was selected by Granta as one of the “25 best Spanish novelists under 35.” In 2023 he published a poetry collection which received the Ojo Crítico prize and El árbol viene, a science-fiction novel. Cosas vivas will be published next year in English by Fitzcarraldo (UK) and Coach House (US) and an excerpt will appear soon in Paris Review.

Hachemi will connect with the students and the community at University of Notre Dame to present Living Things —2023 PEN Translates Award Winner and 2024 Cercador Prize Finalist— and talk about his creative process as a writer:

Discussion: Living Things with author Munir Hachemi

• On Thursday, October 10, from 3:30 pm to 6:15 pm.
• Free, RSVP to Prof. Pedro Aguilera-Mellado at [email protected].
• In Spanish and English.

As part of the Iberian Studies & Transformative Thinking Series (XIII), explore the novel’s themes of identity, belonging, and the essence of life with the author. Discover the cultural influences and philosophical questions that shape Hachemi’s lyrical storytelling.

Workshop: The Role of Literature in a World of Turmoil

• On Friday, October 11, from 11 am to 1:30 pm.
• Free, RSVP to Prof. Pedro Aguilera-Mellado at [email protected].
• In Spanish and English.

As part of the Iberian Studies & Transformative Thinking Series (XIII), explore how literature can serve as a refuge, a catalyst for change, and a means of understanding complex human experiences; and engage in discussions about the power of storytelling.

About the novel

Living Things (Cosas vivas) follows four recent graduates —Munir, G, Ernesto, and Alex— who travel from Madrid to the south of France to work the grape harvest. Except things don’t go as planned: they end up working on an industrial chicken farm and living in a campground, where a general sense of menace takes hold. What follows is a compelling and incisive examination of precarious employment, capitalism, immigration, and the mass production of living things, all interwoven with the protagonist’s thoughts on literature and the nature of storytelling.

But I’m going to tell my story or our story—anyway, and even more rightfully, by hewing to the truth. So don’t expect to find any embellishments here beyond the ones imposed by language —which I realize are more than a few. A pessimist would insist that language inflicts so many nuances and misunderstandings —which, by the way, are not the collateral damage of language but the conditions of its existence.

—From Living Things, by Munir Hachemi (translated by Julia Sanches)

Part of this novel’s fun, rough appeal is that Munir and his mates aren’t the genteel, hypersensitive types we’re more used to meeting in contemporary fiction, but plausibly loutish Spaniards who repeatedly trash their campsite, offend the other guests and spend the whole time smoking joints and guzzling beer. But they are not insensible to the low background hum of contemporary horror. By the end, Munir’s working holiday amid the wretched of the earth has left him with an ambivalent view of his own vocation. Storytelling, he concludes, “is something we do on instinct while the world falls to pieces around us.”

—The New York Times

About the translator

Julia Sanches is a literary translator specializing in Portuguese, Spanish, and Catalan. Born in São Paulo, Brazil, she has lived in several countries, which has deepened her understanding of the languages and cultures she translates. As a founding member of Cedilla & Co., a collective that promotes international voices in English, she also chairs the Translators Group of the Authors Guild. Sanches earned a BA in English Literature and Philosophy from the University of Edinburgh and an MA in Comparative Literature and Literary Translation from Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona. Previously, she worked as an assistant and agent for authors worldwide, but she now focuses on translation and advocating for the works she loves. Her recent translations include Boulder by Eva Baltasar, which was shortlisted for the International Booker Prize 2023.