Javier Cercas Mena (born 1962) is a Spanish writer and professor of Spanish literature at the

University of Girona The University of Girona ( (); ;) is located in the city of Girona, Catalonia, Spain. Its real origin dates back to its creation in 1446, but it was reestablished as a new university in 1991. As of 2021, it consists of several campus and buildings ...

, Spain. Awards he has won for his novels include the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize for '' Soldiers of Salamis'' (translated by Anne McLean), and the European Book Prize for ''The Impostor'' (translated by Frank Wynne).

Biography

Javier Cercas was born in Ibahernando, Cáceres, Spain. He is a frequent contributor to the Catalan edition of ''

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 ...

'' and the Sunday supplement. He worked for two years at the

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, United States. He is part of a group of well-known Spanish novelists who have published "historical memory" fiction, focusing on the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

and

Francoist state Francoist Spain (), also known as the Francoist dictatorship (), or Nationalist Spain () was the period of History of Spain, Spanish history between 1936 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . ...

, including Julio Llamazares, Andrés Trapiello, and Jesús Ferrero. '' Soldiers of Salamis'' (translated by Anne McLean) won the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize in 2004. McLean's translations of his novels '' The Speed of Light'' and ''Outlaws'' were also shortlisted for the

International Dublin Literary Award The International Dublin Literary Award (), established as the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award in 1996, is presented each year for a novel written or translated into English. It promotes excellence in world literature and is solely ...

, in 2008 and 2016 respectively. During the 2014–15

academic year An academic year, or school year, is a period that schools, colleges and university, universities use to measure the duration of studies for a given educational level. Academic years are often divided into academic terms. Students attend classe ...

, he was the Weidenfeld Visiting Professor of European Comparative Literature at St Anne's College at

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, England. He was awarded the 2016 European Book Prize for ''The Impostor''.

Bibliography

* 1987, ''El móvil'' * 1989, ''El inquilino'' (''The Tenant and the Motive'') (English translation, 2005) * 1994, ''La obra literaria de Gonzalo Suárez'' * 1997, ''El vientre de la ballena'' * 1998, ''Una buena temporada'' * 2000, ''Relatos reales'' * 2001, ''Soldados de Salamina'' (''Soldiers of Salamis'') (English translation by Anne McLean, 2004) * 2005, ''La velocidad de la luz'' (''The Speed of Light'') (English translation by Anne McLean, 2006) * 2009, ''Anatomía de un instante'' ('' The Anatomy of a Moment'') (English translation by Anne McLean, 2011) * 2012, ''Las leyes de la frontera (''published as ''Outlaws) ''(English translation by Anne McLean, 2014) * 2014, ' (''The Impostor'') (English translation by Frank Wynne, 2017) * 2017, ''El monarca de las sombras'' (''Lord of All the Dead'') (English translation by Anne McLean, 2020) * 2018, ''The Blind Spot'' (MacLehose Press) (English translation by Anne McLean, 2018) * 2019, ''Even the Darkest Night'' (Terra Alta I) (English translation by Anne McLean, 2022) * 2021, ''Independencia'' (Terra Alta II) * 2022, ''El castillo de Barbazul'' (Terra Alta III) * 2025, ''El loco de Dios en el fin del mundo''

Notes

References

External links

Berlin Literature Festival Bio

Translation o
El derecho a destruirse
published in ''El País Semanal'' on 4 December 2005.

Translation o

published in EL PAIS SEMANAL - 29 January .2006. {{DEFAULTSORT:Cercas, Javier 1962 births Living people 20th-century Spanish essayists 20th-century Spanish male writers 20th-century Spanish novelists 21st-century Spanish essayists 21st-century Spanish male writers 21st-century Spanish novelists People from Tierra de Trujillo Spanish male essayists Spanish male novelists University of Girona alumni Writers from Extremadura