Alvaro Arbina. Interview with the author of Los años del silencio.

Alvaro Arbina He is from Vitoria and was born in 1990. He started at a very young age in the world of literature and at the age of twenty-four he made his debut with The woman with the clock un thriller historical that slipped into the best-seller list and stayed on it for several months. And he consolidated the success with his second novel, The symphony of time, who was also the winner of the Hislibris Award for Best Historical Novel of 2018. Now just released the years of silence. I really appreciate your time and kindness for this interview where he tells us about her and other matters.

Alvaro Arbina — Interview

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

ÁLVARO ARBINA: In August 1936, Josefa, an enigmatic pregnant woman, disappeared from the face of the earth with her six minor children. At dawn the next day, no one in the town seemed to know anything, but secrets and ghosts began to settle inside the houses. Thus began a silence that lasted much longer than anyone would have imagined. I came across this story through the radio where he collaborated in a program rescuing interesting stories about our past. I immediately knew that fifteen minutes on the air was not enough.

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

AA: It may sound strange, but I am from the generation of Harry Potter and I started reading with this fantastic saga. Then came new books and new universes. The first story I wrote was directly a novel, The woman with the clock. I didn't know what I was getting myself into...

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

AA: Current Writers, Maggie o'farrell or Lucia Berlin. If it took me back in time, Albert Camus, Stefan Zweig, Alexander Dumas and many more.

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

AA: The captain Alatriste. 

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

AA: If I'm tired, I go out to run. It clears me up and stimulates me to write.

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

AA: When I write I am not aware of what surrounds me. I dive into another world. I don't care where I am.

• AL: Are there other genres that you like? 

AA: Science fiction. When it is serious and reflective. When I think it might be real.

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

AA: I am reading various essays on neuroscience, which is a topic that excites me.  

• AL: How do you think the publishing scene is?

AA: I wish there were more appetite for stories that they look for ways different to the usual.

• AL: Is the moment of crisis that we are experiencing being difficult for you or will you be able to keep something positive in both the cultural and social spheres?

AA: These are not good times, but perspective is essential. at the bottom of it all, comparing us with other places in the world and with most of the historical periods, we are not so bad.