Entrevistas a María Reimóndez, Rosa Montero y Julia Otxoa: el arte de la escritura y el activismo

Abstract

Writings by contemporary Peninsular authors, María Reimóndez (Galicia, 1975 -), Rosa Montero (Madrid, 1951 -), and Julia Otxoa (País Vasco, 1953 -) display, not only a deep awareness of local and national matters but also a noteworthy engagement with broader issues of a global nature. Their works highlight, furthermore, the strong presence of female voices and perspectives in two distinct generations of Peninsular writers, as well as marked ideological differences among Spanish intellectuals with regards to Spain’s political configuration. Their works reflect the plurality of languages, cultures, and geographies that make up the Iberian Peninsula today and foreground the complex and often conflictive experience of living in a multiregional and multicultural nation. This article provides a concise critical introduction to each author’s work and interviews with all three. The introduction to María Reimóndez’s work focuses on the role of feminism and postcolonialism in the context of identity and nation. Her novels often explore issues of gender and social justice as they relate, in particular, to marginal identities. Rosa Montero’s introduction describes the self- referential and metafictional qualities of Montero’s fiction and looks at the novelist’s portrayal of existential, political, and ethical themes. The introduction to Julia Otxoa’s oeuvre focuses on the poet’s depiction of the dehumanizing aspects of our contemporary world through short minimalist poems that propose reflection, solidarity, and introspection as an antidote to our depthless progress and environmental indifference. The interviews are edited versions of longer conversations with the authors in which their views on the role of literature in the 21st century and on the most important global challenges of our time were discussed.