Photography: Courtesy of Marina Sanmartín.
Marina Sanmartín releases new novel entitled hands so small. Writer and columnist, we can find her every day in the Madrid bookstore of Cervantes and Cía. In this interview tells us about this story and much more. I thank you so much for your time and kindness.
Marina Sanmartín- Interview
- ACTUALIDAD LITERATURA: Your new novel is titled hands so small. What do you tell us about it and where did the idea come from?
MARINA SAN MARTIN: The idea arose in Tokyo, during the days I spent there in the fall of 2018, a few days that, for many reasons, changed my life. hands so small is a thriller classic and elegant, part of the murder of Noriko Aya, the most famous dancer in the world; and at the same time it is my most intimate novel; a reflection on desire and its limits, about literature as a test bed and also about what we understand by love.
- TO THE: You can go back to that first book you read? And the first story you wrote?
MS: I remember many first readings, but the ones that come to mind most often, from my late childhood and early adolescence, are, in chronological order of discovery, The Neverending Story, Straw weight y About heroes and graves. What I am sure of, although I don't remember the first thing I wrote, is that There isn't a moment in my childhood when I don't want to be a writer.. That aspiration has always been there, since my early years, it may be because from very early on I knew and they made me see that I was good at it; It may be because the people I liked and caught my interest in while I was growing up—teachers, family members, crushes—were inveterate readers.
- AL: A head writer? You can choose more than one and from all eras.
MS: I have many: Henry james, Patricia Highsmith, Milan kundera, iris Murdoch, Marguerite Duras, Daphne du maurier, Rafael Chirbes…
- AL: What character in a book would you have liked to meet and create?
MS: Meet Tom Ripley; create, to Ignatius Reilly, The conspiracy of fools and Zeno, Zeno's consciousness.
- AL: Any special habits or habits when it comes to writing or reading?
MS: when i get stuckI turn off the computer and return the text in the notebook, by hand. That always keeps me going.
- AL: And your preferred place and time to do it?
MS: At my place, early, with the first latte of the day
- AL: Are there other genres that you like?
MS: I like notcontemporary candle, but also discover great classical. Last summer I read I dream in the red pavilion, by Cao Xueqin, from the Chinese XNUMXth century, and I really enjoyed it.
- What are you reading now? And writing?
MS: Leo always some books at once. Right now I have on the nightstand Masterpiece, by Juan Tallon; Attempt, by Juana Salabert and A history of Readingby Alberto Manguel. As for what I am writing, for the first time I work on an essay and I am enjoying it very much. I hope to be able to tell more soon.
- AL: How do you think the publishing scene is and what decided you to try to publish?
MS: I feel that suffer from excess. So many titles are published that it is difficult to give them the attention they deserve and distinguish all the good ones. To get benefits,e often prioritizes quantity over quality —Authors write faster to publish more frequently, publishers load themselves with novelties to balance their balances, books stay in bookstores for a short time because they literally do not fit and have to leave so that newcomers can enter …—. Now that we are living a moment of reunion with reading, we should rethink how to ensure that new readers are here to stay.
- 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?
MS: I feel lucky because for me it has been quite bearable. My loved ones have not gotten sick or have recovered without consequences, and my solitary nature helped me a lot during the confinement, which I endured very well and I took the opportunity to write. In addition, the situation revealed how much the neighborhood loved our bookstore, Cervantes and company, and that was exciting.
On the other hand, also thanks to the bookstore people's sadness has reached me who usually visits us and has suffered. Your stories have helped me To see beyond from my own experience, which is how we should try to understand all reality, bearing in mind that what happens to us is not the only version of an event or a tragedy. About this idea I intend to write sooner or later.