Rafael Peñas Cruz (born March 1, 1964 in Spain) has been a novelist since 2004. He was born in

Pozoblanco Pozoblanco () is a town in the province of Córdoba, southern Spain, in the north-central part of the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is located near the headwaters of the Guadamatillas and of other small sub-tributaries of the Guadiana, in ...

in Cordoba in Spain. His parents moved to

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ...

when he was young, and he graduated in English Literature from the city's university, before coming to London to study in summer 1989, and live from 1992 onwards. There, in a relationship with the film maker Constantine Giannaris he acted in the films "Jean Genet is Dead" (1989) and "Trojans" (1990) credited as Rafael Peñas. After completing an MA in Hispanic studies at Birkbeck

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degre ...

, he worked at schools and colleges teaching Spanish and Hispanic culture. At the

Blackheath Bluecoat Church of England School Blackheath Bluecoat Church of England School was a secondary school and sixth form located in the Blackheath Standard area of Blackheath, in the Royal Borough of Greenwich. Its closure was announced in January 2012 and the school formally clos ...

he taught

Rio Ferdinand Rio Gavin Ferdinand (born 7 November 1978) is an English former professional footballer who played as a centre-back, and is now a television pundit for BT Sport. He played 81 times for the England national team between 1997 and 2011, and wa ...

who went on to achieve a noted career in football, and later worked at the

City of London School , established = , closed = , type = Public school Boys' independent day school , president = , head_label = Headmaster , head = Alan Bird , chair_label = Chair of Governors , chair = Ian Seaton , founder = John Carpenter , special ...

where

Daniel Radcliffe Daniel Jacob Radcliffe (born 23 July 1989) is an English actor. He rose to fame at age twelve, when he began portraying Harry Potter in the film series of the same name; and has held various other film and theatre roles. Over his career, Rad ...

who subsequently enjoyed fame as a screen and stage actor, was one of his students. Cruz started work at the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 mill ...

in 2000 in the Language Centre, where he remained until the summer of 2019. He is now retired from teaching. He married in London in 2004, the year his first novel, ''Las Dimensiones del Teatro'' (''The Dimensions of the Theatre'') was published under the name Rafael Peñas. But it was his second novel ''Charlie'', published in 2010, that gained him international attention, after he won the

Terenci Moix Terenci Moix (; real name Ramon Moix i Meseguer; 5 January 1942, in Barcelona – 2 April 2003, in Barcelona) was a Spanish writer, who wrote in Spanish, and in Catalan. He is also the brother of poet/novelist Ana Maria Moix. Life and work ...

Prize for Lesbian and Gay fiction. The story was loosely based on a young student of Cruz's, Charlie Aldridge, from his days as a schoolmaster at the

in the capital. He is working on his third novel, with the working title ''Celia's Legacy'' which is due for publication in 2024, and an autobiographical chronicle provisionally entitled ''Up and Out in Barcelona and London.'' He is also developing a website The Quince Jelly Tin quincejellytin.com which is - in his words - a writing project to turn old photographic albums into stories, thereby creating a repository of people´s lives. In 2020, he co-authored ''Una imagen y mil palabras'' a collaboration with the designer and artist Mayca Martinez Victoria. His writings were inspired by, and an interpretation of, her abstract images and collages. The following year he translated the work of the Balaeric poet and author Àngel Terron from Catalan into English. The volume entitled ''The Poetry of Science'' was the first publication from his company Goatstar Books. Goatstar Books followed up The Poetry of Science with ''Popping Corn'', a translation of the work of Spanish surrealist poet Mendigo Diego into English. Late in 2022, Cruz and Goatstar published ''Keats Now'' an attempt to bring the writings of the poet

John Keats John Keats (31 October 1795 – 23 February 1821) was an English poet of the second generation of Romantic poets, with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley. His poems had been in publication for less than four years when he died of tuberculo ...

to a newer Spanish audience.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Penas Cruz, Rafael Living people Spanish novelists Spanish male novelists People from Córdoba, Spain 1964 births