Below you can find details of the books I am currently pitching to English-language publishers. Please get in touch if you’d be interested in receiving a full sample and pitch for any of the following books…
From Elsewhere Raquel Delgado, Sexto Piso, 2024
Overview
From Elsewhere is Raquel Delgado’s debut publication, a collection of nine stories that all centre around women who, at different points in their lives, feel displaced or out of place. With her singular perspective, Delgado traces and dissects the key places of our sentimental education and does so with a meticulous prose to create a collective gaze into a private realm that reveals who we are and what we are thinking when no one is looking.
The narrative voice is delicate yet unafraid of critical insight, turning the mundane into something emotionally resonant and layered. With this concise and delicate style, and an implacable gaze that does not, however, renounce compassion, the stories in From Elsewhere reflect on nostalgia, on who and what we leave behind, on what happens when people and things change so much they become unrecognisable, on the gap between who we were and who we are, and on the dissonance that often comes with personal evolution – especially when one moves between environments.
Delgado perfectly captures life’s small, shared moments – nostalgia, awkwardness, longing, subtle tensions – with a poetic simplicity. Through everyday situations and a restrained yet emotionally rich style, Raquel Delgado delivers a powerful literary debut. The book has resonated deeply with readers and critics for its intimate, human perspective.
Read an excerpt here.
Praise
‘Every so often, new voices burst onto the Spanish literary scene, but not all of them with as much potential as that of Raquel Delgado.’ – Eva Blanco Medina, Vogue Spain
‘A debut that astonishes for its capacity to move with unusual clarity and restraint.’ – Julia Olmo, ABC Cultural
‘From Elsewhere is an agile, poetic and sincere narrative debut by Raquel Delgado.’ – Elena Costa, El Español
‘Everyday situations are narrated with astonishing mastery.’ – Juan Marqués, El Mundo
The author
Raquel Delgado was born in Valladolid in 1988. She has a degree in Journalism and Audio-Visual Communications and a Masters in Political and Corporate Communications. She grew up in Vitoria and currently lives in A Coruña. From Elsewhere is her first book.
Little Animals Lucía Alba Martínez, AdN, 2024
Overview
Little Animals is an intimate and deeply reflective novel made up of vignettes with a common thread: the emotions, dreams, nightmares, and spiralling thoughts of Inés, the narrator. In these brief, yet incredibly intricate and at times muddled reflections on her life (from childhood to the present day) readers are allowed a glimpse into Inés’ troubled mind as she tries her best to understand life and get through each day in what she considers a complex and insecure world.
This book is an ode to childhood, it is a brutal reflection of the harshness of adult life and the human capacity to overcome even the most difficult situations. Martínez has created a novel with a balance between rawness and tenderness, between light and darkness, with touches of irony and humour that, despite the somewhat sombre themes found within the novel, offers readers endearing moments of hope. With her first novel, Lucía Alba Martínez presents herself as one of the most different and interesting voices on the Spanish scene.
Read an excerpt here.
Listen to a reading from my translation here.
Praise
‘Perhaps one of the greatest joys of the veteran writer is to discover talented young people to whom he can hand over the torch of literature before it falls out of his hands. Lucía Alba Martínez is one of these young authors […] who between bewilderment and unwavering commitment, has written Little Animals.’ – Juan Manuel de Prada, La voz de Galicia
‘Lucía Alba Martínez offers a novel full of tenderness and humour in Little Animals.’ – Briseida Zenobia, Todo Literatura; Républica Ibérica de las Letras
Book of the week in El Periódico de España: ‘In Little Animals, Lucía Alba Martínez’s debut novel, the author takes us into dreams and memory, to the fine line between the past and present, to talk about rootedness and rootlessness, love and lovelessness, protection and helplessness. She does so through the voice of Inés who shows her world without qualms.’ – El Periódico de España
The author
Lucía Alba Martínez (Madrid, 1992) is a writer and translator. She spent most of her childhood and adolescence living in Tunisia. She studied Literature and Comparative Literature at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid and translates literature from English, French and Italian into Spanish. She has published articles on literature in Quimera and CTXT. Little Animals is her first novel.
Travellers of the Continent Eva Díaz Pérez, Galaxia Gutenberg, 2023
Overview
Hugh de Galard, a former travel writer, embarks on a journey through Europe, a voyage that he knows will be the last he ever takes. We follow Hugh as he sets off with his wife, Violet Archer, and recalls his life in London as they cross a continent that seems to idle in uncertainty. On boats, trains, cars, walks and flâneries they discover the metaphor of a Europe in the premature ruins of old seaside resorts, forgotten train stations, abandoned water parks and closed cemeteries. They are on a journey in search of European memory and a refuge from what is about to disappear. Travellers of the Continent is a novel about life, dignified death, Europe, and the lines that often blur between memories, reality and dreams. In this excerpt Hugh and Violet’s train breaks down, and they are forced to stop in an abandoned train station in the middle of the French countryside …
Read an excerpt here.
Praise
‘Díaz Pérez has created a powerful and unforgettable metaphor for what is, or perhaps was, the European dream.’ – Andrés Ibáñez, ABC Cultural
‘This is a melancholic, beautiful, intelligent and very well written novel. It is one of those rare books that cannot be categorised. It is not exactly a novel, nor a travelogue, nor is it an essay, but rather it moves among these genres….’ – Andrés Ibáñez, ABC Cultural
The author
Born in Seville in 1971, Eva Díaz Pérez is a writer and journalist. She has published more than fifteen books, including the novels Memorias de ceniza (Unamuno Prize), El club de la memoria (finalist for the Nadal Prize), Adriático (Málaga Prize 2013 and Andalusia Critics’ Prize 2014) and the essays La andalucía del exilio and Rutas del exilio español en Londres, among others. She is a member of the Real Academia Sevillana de Buenas Letras and the Real Academia Hispanoamericana de Ciencias, Letras y Artes from Cádiz. She has been director of the Centro Andaluz de las Letras. She collaborates with ABC and El País. Los viajeros del cotinente is her latest novel.
Everything Will Get Better Almudena Grandes, Tusquets, 2022
Overview
Everything Will Get Better is Almudena Grandes’ (Madrid, 1960 – 2021) last novel, and was published posthumously in 2022. This brilliant dystopian saga is set in Spain in the near future and features a kaleidoscope of characters all dealing with their new reality: a ‘perfect’ world of mandatory happiness, where denouncing this lie can cost you your life. After years of pandemics, El Gran Capitán’s new political party, Citizen’s Movement, Solutions Now!, wins the elections in a clean sweep. Directing the party from the shadows, El Capitán (Juan Francisco Martínez Sarmiento), a successful businessman, is helped by his trusty advisor, Megan García, and his Council of Ministers, or as he likes to call them ‘Board of Directors’. El Capitán has ambitious projects to fix the country and turn politics completely on its head.
Everything Will Get Better is a choral novel that follows the stories of several ordinary citizens who dare to dismantle the lies of the new regime under which everything appears to be improving, when in reality they live under the abuse of unscrupulous, powerful people. Flitting between different points of views from chapter to chapter, we read of the measures and risks that these people are taking in order to get to the bottom of what lies behind a rose-tinted government. In between these voices from all walks of life, we also see things from El Capitán’s and his advisors’ points of view as they pull the strings that control an entire country and its people. The result is an unsettling dystopia that is scarily close to home, and as is true to Almudena Grandes’ oeuvre, offers important social commentaries on politics, capitalism, and ideas of freedom. Everything Will Get Better is the legacy of a great storyteller who once again manages to move us and raise awareness.
Read an excerpt here.
Awards and recognitions
Winner of the Premio Nacional Narrativa in 2018
Winner of the Premio Julián Besteiro de las Artes y de las Letras in 2002 for her body of work
Winner of the Premio Liber in 2018 for the most outstanding Hispanic author, awarded by the Publishers Guild
The Gold Medal of Merit in the Fine Arts, awarded posthumously
Everything Will Get Better named among the best books of 2022 in El País, La Vanguardia and The Objective
Praise
‘One of Spain’s leading writers, she reveals herself as a powerfully perceptive writer who understands the subtleties of human nature… this is a hugely intelligent, wise novel. It also tells a gripping story, that, as the characters’ lives are gradually revealed, balances on the keen edge of danger.’ – Sunday Telegraph
‘Grandes is a powerful writer, a wonderful director of actors, lavish in emotions, who has managed to write yet another enjoyable and moving book.’ – Qué Leer
‘Grandes’ prose is impeccable. The reader will fully enjoy the author’s mastery of language and the smooth creation and development of scenes.’ – La Razón
‘The writer’s posthumous novel reveals her strong moral ambition and her determination to denounce injustice and inequalities.’ – Germán Gullón, El Español
The author
Almudena Grandes (Madrid, 1960-2021) became known in 1989 with Las edades de Lulú, winner of the XI La Sonrisa Vertical Award. Her novels Te llamaré Viernes, Atlas de geografía humana, Castillos de cartón, and El corazón helado have made her one of the most important and cherished novelists in contemporary Spain. The five novels that make up her series Episodios de una Guerra Interminable have been widely adapted to cinema and theatre, and the series was awarded several prizes. Her death in November 2021 caused a deep impact and provoked an exciting collective response of tribute and recognition, from thousands of her readers and colleagues.
Look At Her Cristina Araújo Gámir, Tusquets, 2022
Overview
Look At Her is a dazzling, addictive, and necessary novel about a dramatic experience at the end of a girl’s adolescence. This debut is a harrowing and honest read that tells the story of Miriam, a young girl who, as well as having to deal with the struggles typical of all adolescents, is the victim of a sexual assault in the summer before her last year of high school. Araújo Gámir writes with careful, well-considered detail about the events before, during, and most significantly after this event, and confronts uncomfortable but necessary themes such as victim blaming, sexism, and toxic masculinity. Most importantly though, she gives space to Miriam’s voice, and we follow her as she attempts to come to terms with the horrific event that will change her life forever. This incredibly important novel won Araújo Gámir the XVIII Premio Tusquets in 2022.
Read an excerpt here.
Awards
Winner of the XVIII PREMIO TUSQUETS EDITORES DE NOVELA 2022
Awarded the BEST DEBUT NOVEL at the Festival du Premier Roman (France)
Praise
‘A novel of great psychological depth, that is precise, excellently constructed. It dissects, with fine intelligence, the intricacies of patriarchal thinking, which it dares to look at head-on in all its complexity.’ – Sara Mesa
‘Exceptional as a first novel, and just plain exceptional… for the quality of its prose, the clearly thought-out structure of the tale, the analytic distance, the emotional empathy devoted to understanding a human tragedy… A hypersensitive novelist, intelligent, wise, compassionate. A major novel whose corrosiveness lies in its discovery of the perfect degree of distance. A powerful literary mind. A great story.’ – Jordi Gracia, El País
‘A sharp novel that lifts the scab and looks at the wound beneath it.’ – Marta Barrio
‘With Look At Her not only do we discover a new voice, that of Cristina Araújo, but also an instant classic of the contemporary novel of our country.’ – Beatriz Martínez, El Periódico
‘It is impossible to finish this novel without feeling indignation and rage. This book shakes you and hits you at your core.’ – Eva Cosculluela
The author
Cristina Araújo Gámir has a degree in English Philology from the Complutense University in Madrid. After finishing her degree, she worked in a dubbing studio reviewing translations of documentaries for National Geographic, Discovery Channel, and the BBC. Since 2011 she has lived in Frankfurt, where she wrote her first novel, Mira a esa chica, winner of the XVIII Tusquets Editores Award.
Alice Banks 