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Alicia Giménez-Bartlett: Biography |
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| 18/11/2008 |
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After numerous Anglo-Saxon writers (including John le Carré, John Grisham, Elmore Leonard and George Pelecanos) and only female star (P.D. James), our prestigious literary career award to a master of the genre goes this year to a European writer of great talent and a perfect interpreter of the spirit of the Chandler-esque novel, Alicia Giménez-Bartlett.
Alicia Giménez-Bartlett was born in Almansa, Spain in 1951 and has
lived in Barcelona since 1975. After graduating in Literature and
Modern Philology from the University of Valencia and obtaining a PhD in
Literature from the University of Barcelona, she taught Spanish
Literature for 13 years.
Her literary reference points are
distinguished and often appear in her writing: Shakespeare for his
motivations behind evil, Cervantes, the great Russian and French
novelists and old “friends” such as her late noir colleague, Manuel
Vázquez Montalbán. For Bartlett, crime stories are the literary form
that comes closest to contemporary reality and which can best tackle
its most fundamental knots.
Her city Barcelona, a paradigm of
the European metropolis of this decade, lends itself well to her
approach. Today, Giménez-Bartlett and all her characters have much to
say to readers who for years have been following them, and who have
learned through them to immerse themselves in the genre as well as to
use it as a magnifying glass for understanding the surrounding world.
The
author made her literary debut in 1981 with a study on Spanish writer
Gonzalo Torrente Ballester and wrote several essays and novels before
achieving broad public acclaim. Her first short story, Exit, was
published in 1984. In 1997, she won the Feminino Lumen Award for Best
Spanish Female Writer for Una habitación ajena, on the difficult
relationship between Virginia Woolf and her maid.
Giménez-Bartlett
went on to become one of the most read and beloved female authors in
her country in the 1990s with the series of novels featuring Petra
Delicado, a Barcelona police inspector who with her close collaborator
Vice-Inspector Fermín Garzón solves difficult murders. After the
success of Ritos de muerte (Death Rites, 1996) and Dia de perros (Dog
Day, 1997) she decided to dedicate herself entirely to her writing.
In
this series, attention to social issues and descriptions of
relationships and changes in the world today are often more important
than the case and its solution. Thus, many say that while
Giménez-Bartlett’s crime stories follow in the tradition of Maigret,
nevertheless, as the investigations unfold, the characters’ state of
mind, analysis of the individual and society, and reflection and
introspection take on increasingly larger roles. In the end, the killer
is always found yet it always seems that for Giménez-Bartlett and
Delicado it is more important to investigate outside the crime and
inside the individual.
Women’s and social issues are very
important to Giménez-Bartlett, even in her noir writing. The heart of
each installment, in fact, centers on a crime tied to some current
event, a topic that has stirred public opinion. From serial rape in
Death Rites, a powerful reflection on social classes, to the world of
journalism of Muertos de papel (2000), on the subjects and methods of
communication and information. From the upper class of Un barco cargado
de arroz (2004), which looks at big business, to the ruthless and
unbearable exploitation of children in Nido vacío (2007), the latest
Delicado book, which besides crime also examines immigration and family
integration, subjects extremely relevant in the Spain of President
Zapatero.
Women’s issues are naturally concentrated in the main
character of Petra Delicado, who has two failed marriages behind her
and another that presents itself unexpectedly the latest episode; no
children; few friends and a great need for freedom, solitude and
sharing. A tough and strong personality, a true “ballbreaker,” as her
captain says, Delicado is intransigent and aggressive, at times
hysterical and intolerant, attentive and sensitive, as well as
demanding, though most of all with herself.
Petra trusts her
instinct, loves books, classical music and culture, which she uses
often – and successfully – as a weapon even against the most despicable
criminals. So as to say that an “intellectual woman” is not only not
marginalized but, on the contrary, can also upset and tear down the
rules even in the masculine world of cops and crime. She is always
flanked by the inseparable Fermín, the true man in her life, a friend,
confidant and subordinate. In their role-playing game, the one’s curves
and sharp corners seem to fit perfectly with those of the other.
In
1999 the adventures of Petra Delicado were made into a TV series
starring Ana Belén and Santiago Segura. In 2003, the author wrote the
screenplay to the film Stormy Weather, directed by Pedro Olea. She
eventually distanced herself from the project after a falling out with
the filmmakers.
Giménez-Bartlett’s books have been translated
into six languages; have been successful throughout Europe, especially
in Germany, France and Italy. Her latest book, Días de amor y engaños
(2006), interweaves stories of four women and although it does not
feature Delicado, also speaks of the themes that most interest the
author: relationships, family and women.
Alicia Giménez-Bartlett will meet with festival audiences and receive the 2008 Raymond Chandler Award on Saturday, December 6
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