IberoArts

Spain’s literary giants are lost in English translation


Nick Lyne: Three cheers for Javier Marías for making it into Penguin Modern Classics: the first Spanish writer to do so since Federico García Lorca. Isn’t it about time the English-speaking world woke up to the Spanish literature of the last 75 years?

An indisputable criterion of success for any novelist is when Penguin Modern Classics signs up your backlist, especially when it’s for a five-figure sum. Which is what has happened to Javier Marías. The 60-year-old Spanish writer, whose latest title, The Infatuations (Los enamoramientos), will be published in English in early 2013, joins an exclusive group of Spanish writers in Penguin’s catalogue: Cervantes, Quevedo, Jacinto Benavente, and Lorca. Yes, that’s it. Four writers: the first two of whom died in the 17th century, the next in 1954; although he stopped writing long before that. For Penguin, and most US and... 3 Comments / Read More »

Interesting, insightful and inspiring books about Spain, Portugal, North Africa, Latin America and Iberian affairs, recommended by Iberosphere's editors and contributors, and offered in association with Amazon.

‘Extraterrestre’: entertaining alien farce just misses the mark


Olwen Mears: Nacho Vigalondo’s alien-themed romantic comedy is more about the human tendency to complicate simple matters than a threat to planet earth. But matching the brilliance of the director's previous feature is no easy feat.

Those who have seen Nacho Vigalondo's debut feature Los Cronocrímenes will be familiar with the director's style. In terms of uniqueness, he is more on a par with the likes of Wes Anderson than Clint Eastwood. And much like Anderson, you either dig his particular vision of the world or you don't. Humour, mixed with a healthy dose of darkness, is an essential ingredient of Vigalondo's work and Extraterrestre (or Extraterrestrial) is no different. The laughs and lighter moments are frequent but they are accompanied by an underlying sensation of subtle menace (one of the most classic examples of this is his 2003 Oscar-nominated short movie ... No Comments / Read More »

Films from and about Spain, Portugal and Latin America - from world-renowned directors to smaller alternative movies that have won acclaim. Offered in association with Amazon.

The Serrat–Sabina generation: sitting comfortably


Nick Lyne: Spain’s two leading singer songwriters of the last four decades, Joaquín Sabina and Joan Manuel Serrat, are proving enduringly popular, both individually and as a double act.

Looking back over the last 50 years of so of popular music, it’s probably a safe enough conclusion to draw that at least one of the secrets of a performer’s enduring popularity is to be inexorably associated with fast-changing times. For most of us, however banal it might seem to the rest of the world — and we may ourselves not even realise it at the time — there is always a moment in life after which things are never quite the same; a high point or an event, a moment, after which events overtake us; when we grow up and settle down to earning a living, raising... No Comments / Read More »

From Flamenco to Fado, from classical to rock, Spain, Portugal and Latin America have contributed enormously to world music. Browse the genres, the best-selling artists and the most influential bands in our selection of CDs and MP3 downloads. Offered in association with Amazon.