Elvira Navarro Ponferrada (born 25 March 1978) is a Spanish writer.

Career

Elvira Navarro holds a licentiate in Philosophy from the

Complutense University of Madrid The Complutense University of Madrid (, UCM; ) is a public research university located in Madrid. Founded in Alcalá in 1293 (before relocating to Madrid in 1836), it is one of the oldest operating universities in the world, and one of Spain's ...

. In 2004 she won the

City Council of Madrid The City Council of Madrid () is the top-tier administrative and governing body of Madrid, the capital and biggest city of Spain. The city council is composed by three bodies: the mayor, who leads the city council and the executive branch of it; ...

's Young Creators Competition, and enjoyed a creative scholarship at the

Residencia de Estudiantes ESO Hotel at Cerro Paranal (or Residencia) is the accommodation for Paranal Observatory in Chile since 2002. It is mainly used for the ESO ( European Southern Observatory) scientists and engineers who work there on a roster system. It has been ...

. She has published two complementary books: ''La ciudad en invierno'' (The City in Winter) and ''La ciudad feliz'' (The Happy City), as well as the novels ''La trabajadora'' (The Working Woman) and ''Los últimos días de Adelaida García Morales'' (The Last Days of Adelaida García Morales). Her work has earned the , the for Best New Author, and the

Fnac Fnac () is a French multinational retail chain specializing in the sale of entertainment Media (communication), media and consumer electronics. Fnac was founded by André Essel and Max Théret in 1954. Its headquarters is located in ''Le Flavia' ...

New Talent Distinction. Navarro is also the author of the blog ''Periferia'', an ongoing work on the neighborhoods of Madrid that explores bordering and undefined spaces. In 2010 she was included in the magazine ''

Granta ''Granta'' is a literary magazine and publisher in the United Kingdom whose mission centres on its "belief in the power and urgency of the story, both in fiction and non-fiction, and the story's supreme ability to describe, illuminate and make ...

''s list of the 22 best Spanish-language novelists under 35. In 2013 she was selected as one of the Spanish voices with the greatest futures by ''

El Cultural ''El Cultural'' is a Spanish weekly magazine dedicated to arts and culture. It is based in Madrid. It was a weekly supplement of '' La Razón''. It later was one of the weekly supplements of '' El Mundo'', as a part of Unidad Editorial S.A. In ...

'', and in 2014 the same magazine rated ''La trabajadora'' one of the ten best Spanish-language novels of the year. Portions of her work have been translated into English, French, Swedish, Italian, Turkish, and Arabic. She has written for magazines such as ''El Cultural'', ''

Ínsula ''Ínsula'' () is a magazine based in Madrid, Spain which features articles on literary work and literary criticism, with the subtitle ''Revista de Letras y Ciencias Humanas''. In terms of format and contents, the magazine is similar to the ''New ...

'', ''

Letras Libres ''Letras Libres'' is a Spanish-language monthly literary magazine published in Mexico and Spain. History and profile ''Letras Libres'', printed since 1999 in Mexico and since 2001 in Spain, has an average of eighteen to twenty articles per issue ...

'', ', ''Turia'', and ''Calle 20'', and for the newspapers '' Público'', '' eldiario.es'', '' El Mundo'', and ''

El País (; ) is a Spanish-language daily newspaper in Spain. is based in the capital city of Madrid and it is owned by the Spanish media conglomerate PRISA. It is the second-most circulated daily newspaper in Spain . is the most read newspaper in ...

''. She has performed literary criticism for ''Qué Leer'', ''

Revista de Libros ''Revista de Libros'' (Review of Books) is a Spanish-language bi-monthly literary review magazine. The magazine was a print publication from 1996 to 2011. It was restarted as an online-only magazine in 2013. In 2016 the print edition was also star ...

'', and the blog '. She became editor of the Caballo de Troya imprint in 2015, and teaches writing workshops.

Controversy

Her novel ''Los últimos días de Adelaida García Morales'' was harshly criticized by the filmmaker

Víctor Erice Víctor Erice Aras (; born 30 June 1940) is a Spanish film director. He is best known for his first two feature fiction films, '' The Spirit of the Beehive'' (1973), which many regard as one of the greatest Spanish films ever made, and '' El Sur' ...

in ''El País''. Erice accused Navarro of trivializing the figure of

Adelaida García Morales Adelaida García Morales (1945, in Badajoz, Spain – 22 September 2014, in Dos Hermanas, Spain) was a Spanish writer. Life and work Born in Badajoz, García Morales moved at the age of 13 to Seville, her parents' home town. She lived there for m ...

(his ex-wife), and causing grief to her loved ones by writing "a sort of fake fiction documentary" rather than a well-researched biography. Navarro's retort and various public interventions by other writers (such as

Juan Marsé Juan Marsé Carbó (8 January 1933 – 18 July 2020) was a Spanish novelist, journalist, and screenwriter who used Spanish as his literary language. In 2008, he was awarded the Cervantes Prize, "the Spanish-language equivalent" to the Nobel P ...

, in support of Erice) increased the controversy and the debate over the limits of fiction.

Works

Novels and short stories

* ''La ciudad en invierno'', Barcelona, Caballo de Troya, 2007; Debolsillo, 2008; Debolsillo 2012; * ''La ciudad feliz'', Barcelona, Mondadori, 2009, * ''El invierno y la ciudad'', RHM Flash (ePub), 2012, * ''La trabajadora'', Barcelona, Penguin Random House, 2014, * ''Los últimos días de Adelaida García Morales'', Barcelona, Random House, 2016,

Collective works

* ''Quince golpes en la cabeza'', compilation by Ernesto Pérez Castillo, Havana, Editorial Cajachina, 2008 * ''Elegías íntimas. Instantáneas de cineastas'', coordination by , Documenta Madrid, 2008 * ''Asamblea portátil. Muestrario de narradores iberoamericanos. Antología de última narrativa'', selection and prologue by , Lima, Editorial Casatomada, 2009 * ''Madrid / Barcelona. Literatura y ciudad (1995–2010)'', editing, introduction, and reading guide by

Jorge Carrión Jorge Carrión (Tarragona, Spain – 1976) is a Spanish writer, cultural critic, and director of the Master in Literary Creation at the Pompeu Fabra University. His published books include the non-fiction works ''Bookshops'' (2013) and ''Barc ...

, Madrid, Iberoamericana Editorial Vervuert and Cátedra Miguel Delibes (Valladolid), 2009 * ''The best of young Spanish language novelists'', New York, Granta, 2010; ''Los mejores narradores jóvenes en español'', Barcelona, Granta – Duomo, 2010 * ''Siglo XXI. Los nuevos narradores del cuento español actual'', editing by Gemma Pellicer and Fernando Valls, Palencia, Menoscuarto Ediciones, 2010 * ''Chéjov comentado'', editing by Sergi Bellver, Madrid, Nevsky Prospects, 2010 * ''Pequeñas Resistencias 5. Antología del nuevo cuento español (2001–2010)'', editing by

Andrés Neuman Andrés Neuman (born 28 January 1977) is an Argentine writer, poet, translator, columnist and blogger. Early life and education The son of Argentine émigré musicians, he was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to a mother of French and Spanish ...

, Madrid, Editorial Páginas de Espuma, 2010 * ''Los oficios del libro'', various authors, Madrid, Libros de la ballena, 2011 * ''La ciudad contada: Buenos Aires en la mirada de la nueva narrativa hispanoamericana'', editing by , Buenos Aires, Ministry of Culture of the City of Buenos Aires, 2012 * ''Cuentos en blanco y negro'', editing by Miguel Ángel Oeste, Ministry of Culture of the City of Melilla, Manigua, 2012 * ''Passageways'', editing by Camille T. Dungy and Daniel Hahn, San Francisco, Two Lines – World Writing in Translation, 2012 * ''En breve. Cuentos de escritoras españolas (1975–2010). Estudio y antología'', editing by Ángeles Encinar and Carmen Valcárcel, Madrid, Editorial Biblioteca Nueva, 2012 * ''Mar de pirañas. Nuevas voces del microrrelato español'', editing by Fernando Valls, Palencia, Menoscuarto, 2012, * ''Madrid, con perdón''. Editing and prologue by Mercedes Cebrián. Anthology of texts about Madrid by , , , , Jimina Sabadú, Antonio J. Rodríguez,

Óscar Esquivias Óscar Esquivias (born 28 June 1972 in Burgos, Castile and León, Spain) is a Spanish short-story writer, poet and novelist. Biography He studied at the University of Burgos. He was director of the literature magazine ''Calamar, revista de crea ...

, Natalia Carrero, Grace Morales, , ,

Iosi Havilio Iosi Havilio (born 1974 in Buenos Aires) is an Argentine author. He's the son of Yugoslav-Argentine actor Harry Havilio. Life and career His first novel, ''Open Door'' was published in Buenos Aires in 2006. The novel tells the story of a young w ...

, Roberto Enríquez, and Elvira Navarro. Editorial Caballo de Troya, 2012 * ''Cuento español actual'', compilation by Ángeles Encinar, Editorial Cátedra, 2013

Awards and distinctions

* 2004: Young Creators Award from the

* 2007:

New Talent Distinction for ''La ciudad en invierno'' * 2008: Finalist for the Huelva Youth Awards * 2009: 25th for ''La ciudad feliz'' * 2009: Evolución 09 El Duende/PlayStation Literary Creation Award * 2009: ''La ciudad feliz'' chosen by '' Público''s ''Culturas'' section as one of the year's eye-opening books * 2009: 4th for Best New Author for ''La ciudad feliz'' * 2009: Finalist for the 7th Dulce Chacón Spanish Narrative Award for ''La ciudad feliz'' * 2014: ''La trabajadora'' chosen by ''El Mundo''s magazine ''

'' as one of the year's best Spanish-language books * 2017: Finalist for the 5th Premio de Narrativa Breve Ribera del Duero for ''La isla de los conejos''

References

External links

''Periferia''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Navarro, Elvira 1978 births 21st-century Spanish novelists Complutense University of Madrid alumni Living people People from Huelva Spanish literary critics Spanish women literary critics Spanish women novelists Spanish women short story writers Spanish short story writers