10 of 30: New Spanish Narrative 2020
Spanish authors Aixa de la Cruz and Jordi Nopca will represent the New Spanish Narrative in the US presentation of the second edition of 10 of 30, a project that aims to encourage the translation of Spanish authors into English.
10 of 30 is a project sponsored 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.
The first edition of 10 of 30: New Spanish Narrative was distributed in 2019. An additional ten authors have been selected for 2020, and the project will culminate in 2021 with a third edition: thirty writers, representative of their generation, who will form part of the programming Spain will bring to Frankfurt 2022 as the Guest of Honor. The three editions of 10 of 30 represent a key initiative whose purpose is to raise awareness about these young writers, and reach foreign editors who will have the opportunity to read their early work.
The 2020 book contains excerpts, in English and Spanish, by authors Irene Vallejo, Florencia del Campo, Sabina Urraca, Álex Chico, Juan Gómez Bárcena, Aixa de la Cruz, Cristian Crusat, Jordi Nopca, Katixa Agirre, and Gabriela Ybarra. This selection of texts, each one preceded by a bio and a short interview, provides an initial introduction to these authors’ writings.
The US presentation will be exclusive to publishers, translators, and literary agents, and will include an introduction to institutional support by the new Cultural Counselor Miguel Albero, a keynote speech about the New Spanish Narrative by co-founder of the literary journal Granta en Español Valerie Miles, and a conversation with authors Aixa de la Cruz and Jordi Nopca and translator Katie Whittemore.
Spanish authors at the US virtual presentation
Aixa de la Cruz
Aixa de la Cruz earned her PhD in Literary Theory and Comparative Literature. She has published the novels De música ligera (451 Editores, 2009), La línea del frente (Salto de Página, 2017) and Cambiar de idea (Caballo de Troya, 2019), the short story collection Modelos animales (Salto de Página, 2015), and the essay Diccionario en Guerra (La Caja Books, 2018). She writes monthly on feminism and gender in the Periódico Bilbao and bimonthly in La Marea.
Jordi Nopca
Jordi Nopca is a writer and journalist born in Barcelona in 1983. After publishing the novel El talent (Talent, 2012) he wrote the short-story collection Come on up, awarded with the Documenta Prize in 2015 and translated into Spanish and Dutch. Some of its short-stories are also available in Hebrew, Polish and Serbian. His last novel is La teva ombra (‘Your shadow’), published in 2019 and awarded with the Proa novel prize, available in Catalan and also in Spanish. His books are known for their acid sense of humor and ability to portray the absurdity of everyday modern life.