Alan Pitronello. Interview with the author of Winds of Conquest

Alan Pitronello was born in Viña del Mar, Chile, in 1986, has Italian origins and has lived in Argentina, Belgium, Italy, Switzerland and Spain. studied history and geography at the University of Valencia, where he specialized in Modern History. He was awarded the VIII Prize of Historical Novel of Úbeda by the second expedition and has also been part of its jury. In this interview He tells us about the second title he publishes, winds of conquest. I thank you very much for the time and kindness you have dedicated to me.

Alan Pitronello — Interview

• ACTUALIDAD LITERATURA: Your new novel is titled winds of conquest. What do you tell us about it and where did the idea come from?

Alan Pitronello: This is my second novel after the second expedition, with which I had the honor of obtaining the XNUMXth Úbeda Historical Novel Prize. Winds of Conquest the trail of the conquest process continues. The idea arose from my passion for the XNUMXth century and my interest in narrating the Hispanic legacy in America through a travel and adventure novel.. I was born in Chile, my family comes from Italian and Spanish immigrants and we share mestizo roots. The history of the conquest, hard and bloody, and sometimes even cruel, belongs to all of us.

• AL: Can you go back to that first book you read? And the first story you wrote?

AP: As a child I remember reading The island of the treasure, de Stevenson and some pirate novels adapted from Salgari. It wasn't much of comics or comics. The taste for reading came later, in adolescence, with role-playing games, fantasy novels and stuff.

About the first thing I wrote, it was at the initiative of my mother. She asked me to write a diary, so that I would remember the things that happened to me at school. I still have it.

• AL: A head writer? You can choose more than one and from all eras.

AP: Stefan Zweig. For me he is the master of narration, of knowing how to tell honestly and simply the complexity of being and human existence. I always come back to him to learn how to describe feelings. Considered Yesterday's world a must read. I also have a list of Latin American authors like Cortázar, García Márquez o bolaño, among others. 

• AL: What character in a book would you have liked to meet and create?

AP: I would have liked to meet the magician Hopscotch, Julio's novel Cortázar. Spontaneous, crazy, smoker, a little innocent, metaphysical. I would have liked to see her silhouette cross the Pont des Arts. On the other, a character that I love and would have liked to create is the captain Jack Aubrey, from the novels of Patrick O'Brian. I would have had a lot of fun.

• AL: Any special habits or habits when it comes to writing or reading?

PA: For write needed Ambiental music and a cup of coffee. For read I leave home at one coffee shop, to a park. I don't usually read and write in the same place.

• AL: And your preferred place and time to do it?

AP: I like to write Early in the morning, at my usual table.

• AL: Are there other genres that you like?

AP: The contemporary novel, the novel black, magical realism. I also like the test.

• AL: What are you reading now? And writing?

AP: I'm reading Chilean poet, by Alejandro Zambra, while I prepare a new historical novel. I also write another more contemporary novel.

• AL: How do you think the publishing scene is and what decided you to try to publish?

AP: The publishing landscape has always been complicated, both for authors and readers and booksellers. The volume of novelties is such that great works that do not receive the attention they deserve are often overlooked. I believed in my story and put all my efforts into trying to polish it and finish it. Being a new author, they advised me to send it to a prize so that it would be valued by a jury. I was lucky to win and that my novel was published by Ediciones Pàmies.

I always encourage those who write and they haven't published yet, keep believing in their stories and don't give up. If a story is good and well written, sooner or later an editor will come along who believes in it.

• AL: Is the moment of crisis that we are experiencing being difficult for you or will you be able to keep something positive for future stories?

AP: Well, the media shows us an incomplete reality. Despite the terrible events that are happening, such as the war in Ukraine, I see a majority of society more aware of the problems, more cohesive and supportive, wanting to change things. Maybe I'm being optimistic, but I have a lot of hope in the human being and in its ability to overcome great challenges.