10 of 30: Katixa Agirre and Inés Martín in Iowa City

The University of Iowa welcomes two new Spanish writers from the “10 of 30: New Spanish Narrative” literature project in a public reading in Spanish.

10 of 30: New Spanish Narrative is a project presented by the Office of Cultural and Scientific Relations at the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) that aims to bring international exposure to Spanish writers between the ages of 30 and 40, a period when a writer’s work often shows early maturity. Since its beginnings, the program has featured 30 writers representative of their generation.

In this event, Spanish writers Katixa Agirre and Inés Martín join together in a public reading in Spanish at the Public Library of Iowa City.

About Inés Martín Rodrigo

Inés Martín Rodrigo’s novel Las formas del querer received the 2022 Nadal Prize, the oldest literary prize in Spain. She is considered one of the leading cultural journalists in Spain.

She made her debut in Spanish literature in 2016 with the novel Azules son las horas, based on the life of Sofía Casanova, who was the first female Spanish war correspondent. In 2020, she published Una habitación compartida, an anthology of conversations with female writers such as Carmen Maria Machado, Ida Vitale, Zadie Smith, Anne Tyler, Margaret Atwood, Elena Poniatowska or Siri Hustvedt.

That same year, she made her debut in children’s literature with Giselle (2020), a short story based on the ballet of the same title. She has prefaced works by authors such as David Foster Wallace, Virginia Woolf, or Carmen Laforet. In 2019, she was selected by the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) for the 10 of 30 program, which each year recognizes the best Spanish writers under their forties.

About Katixa Agirre

Katixa Agirre made her debut in Basque literature with the short story collection Sua falta zaigu (Elkar, 2007), followed by Habitat (Elkar, 2009). After numerous works of children’s and young adult literature, she published her first novel in 2015, Atertu arte Itxaron (Elkar, 2015), a road novel which won the 111 Akademia Prize, and was translated into four other languages, including Spanish as Los turistas desganados (Pre-textos, 2017).

Thanks to the Augustin Zubikarai grant, she published her novel Amek ez dute / Mothers Don’t – a worldwide success translated into nine languages, including English by Open Letter in North America and 3TimesRebel in the U.K. This novel is currently being adapted for the screen by Catalan director Mar Coll. In September 2022, she published her latest novel, Berriz Zentauro, which can be found in Spanish (De nuevo centauro, Tránsito) and Catalan (De nou centaure, Segona Periferia).