Last Tuesday, the writer Cristina Fernández Cubas starred in one of the most crowded evenings of the III Lanzarote Literature Festival (FDLL25) at the El Fondeadero Civic Center. In conversation with the festival director, Carlos Battaglini, the author reviewed her life and defended the short story from the angle of the disturbing and the everyday.
Fernández Cubas evoked her adolescent education as a listener of stories and the mark of her nanny Totó: "she always left a dark spot" in the oral stories she told at night, a form of suspension that, she said, fascinated her as a child. In addition, she mentioned her stays in countries that marked her, such as Peru or Egy
Regarding his defense of the short story, he emphasized the autonomy of the genre: "the short story is a genre in itself," a conviction that, he recalled, he repeated for years in the face of the inertia of equating it to a prelude to the novel.
The author also shared one of the most celebrated images of the talk when comparing writing rhythms: "The short story is like an unfaithful lover: if you stop thinking about it, it leaves. In contrast, the novel knows how to wait."
Regarding the craft, he was blunt in his ambivalence: "Sometimes I have a great time writing, and other times, a terrible time." And he defended the unpredictable value of each creative process: "I believe that the writing process has its mystery."
The conversation, framed within the motto "Letters of rofe and salt," reaffirmed the festival's purpose: to transform the geography of Lanzarote into a living literary territory where word, memory, and landscape engage in dialogue with the public.
This and all previous talks can be viewed on the FDLL's YouTube channel
Upcoming talks at FDLL25
The festival will continue its tour of the south of the island with two important encounters.
On Thursday, November 6, the writer Sergio del Molino will give the talk Landscape and Narration: Writing a Country from its Margins, also at the El Fondeadero Civic Center (Puerto del Carmen).
Later, on Wednesday, November 19, Ecuadorian author Mónica Ojeda, one of the most powerful voices in contemporary Latin American literature, will speak at the Casa de la Cultura Benito Pérez Armas (Yaiza) about Writing from the Edge: Body and Transgression in Literature.
Registration for both meetings is available on the festival website www.fdll.es
