LA ESPAÑOLA: Riveting Writing from Spain with Alice Banks

Perhaps it was the same for you? My first introduction to Spanish literature in translation was Cervantes’ Don Quixote. Years later, I’m living in Spain, and fate has landed me in Castilla-la-Mancha, home to Cervantes’ anti-hero, setting for one of the most translated novels in history and the perfect place from which to begin my new column. My name is Alice Banks, and this is ‘La Española’.

Following this first encounter, after having learnt the language and begun a life in Spain, I’ve fallen in love with the country’s vivid and unique literature. Whether writing in Spanish, Catalan, Galician, or Basque, Spain’s writers and independent publishers are consistently pushing creative boundaries and producing fantastic new writing.

My new monthly column for the European Literature Network will allow me to share with you discoveries from Spain’s exciting literary landscape – be this through literature not yet in translation, new releases in English, or special feature interviews and articles. I write from my home in Castilla-la-Mancha, the land of Cervantes’ Don Quixote, and the perfect place from which to explore literature in translation.

By Alice Banks

Alice Banks is a copy editor and literary translator from French and Spanish based in Ciudad Real, Spain. After graduating with a French degree from Bangor University, Alice went on to study for an MA in Literary Translation at the University of East Anglia. She currently volunteers for both The European Literature Network and Asymptote Journal.

Photo: Alice Banks in Castilla La Mancha