Baltasar Magro. Photograph of B. Moya provided by Ingenio de Comunicaciones.
Balthazar Magro She is a journalist and a well known television face, in which he has worked for more than thirty years as screenwriter of cultural programs or Director of informative spaces, among which the mythical Weekly report. He has published several books and his latest novel is Mary blanchard. Has granted me this interview I thank you for your time and kindness.
Baltasar Magro. Interview
- ACTUALIDAD LITERATURA: Do you remember the first book you read? And the first story you wrote?
BALTASAR MAGRO: The first books that I was lucky enough to read in the public library of my city were from adventure, nothing different from what the adolescents of my time read. And among them stands out Robinson Crusoe. I think it was the first of all.
The first story I wrote with a certain entity was the movie script, a short that I was later lucky to direct. It told the story of the fleeting love between a teacher from the provinces, in gray Spain of the sixties, with a young American who came to the city to study art.
- AL: What was the first book that struck you and why?
BM: I was impressed The call of the wild, by Jack London, to the point where I later revised his entire work. What impressed me most was how he narrated the overcoming man in the midst of a hostile nature and the harmony of the landscapes that surrounded it.
- AL: Who is your favorite writer? You can choose more than one and from all eras.
BM: Thank you for allowing me to choose several. I highlight Quevedo, Borges, Maalouf, sampedro, McEwan y Delibes. There are more, but these are among the first.
- AL: What character in a book would you have liked to meet and create?
WB: A Baldassare Intoxicated (Baldassare's journeyby Maalouf) for exchange stories and experiences. His allow us to delve into the crossroads that have plagued us since ancient times and in his ability to defend the right to travel the world as a foreigner without humiliation.
- AL: Any mania when it comes to writing or reading?
BM: Silence around me at the time of writing. And identical aspiration to read. I am unable to read on the subway.
- AL: And your preferred place and time to do it?
BM: I prefer write by mornings. I am more clear, and surrounded by my papers and books. Y read, by afternoons, in the living room or on the terrace.
- AL: What do we find in your latest novel, Mary blanchard, and why choose a character like her?
BM: Here the reader will find the story of a exceptional woman and artist. The most important painter in Spain. A great unknown for the public, to whom my novel is owed and those that come later to try to clear the gaps and mysteries that surrounded his life.
- AL: Other favorite genres?
BM: Almost all without exception. In fact, I have worked on several: historical, crime, current affairs ...
- AL: What are you reading now? And writing?
BM: About nothing, by Woody Allen.
I work on the story of three women: grandmother, daughter and granddaughter. Before her death, the grandmother hid correspondence with the most important writers of the XNUMXs and love letters with a stranger. Daughter and granddaughter try to reveal the mystery.
- AL: How do you think the publishing scene is for as many authors as there are or want to publish?
BM: There are few good writers. The important thing is that the public has the insights and necessary preparation to choose well and not get carried away by the large operations of marketing. That many write is very good, whether it is published or not. The deployment in the exaggerated release of books should be contained taking into account the situation we are experiencing.
- 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 novels?
BM: Of course. What we are going through is complicated and our way of relating and living has changed us. I long for its end as soon as possible. Time will tell us if it will serve as an argument, but surely will contribute things for the intense experience that represents for everyone.