Quote by Nieves Concostrina
Nieves Concostrina is a writer from Madrid recognized for her original way of telling historical events. Since its inception, its objective has been to show events with a touch of humor, leaving aside the stereotypes of educational texts. A sample of this is his latest book: History in trouble (2021), which can be enjoyed by any adult, despite belonging to the genre of children's literature.
With more than a decade in the literary field, has published nine books. They stand out between these: Dust you are (2009) and Little stories of history (2009) Likewise, he has reaped an impeccable journalistic career throughout his 40 years of experience in radio and television, for whose performance he has received important awards, such as: Villa de Madrid for Journalism in the written press (1998) and Ondas for the best information treatment in 2016.
Books by Nieves Concostrina
Dust you are (2009)
It is a book with a somewhat peculiar theme, for account of the incidents through which the corpses of some personalities passed significant events in history. This particular perspective, in advance, makes the work a magnet for the curious. Among its pages are a considerable number of stories, which are grouped into the following seven chapters:
- The bosses
- In the scent of holiness
- Philosophy and Letters
- Politics, chevrons and adventure
- Showbiz, rock and sport
- One of the bad and the other of the good
- Miscellany
The last chapter stands out from the rest for its content; It is subdivided into 19 parts and has extremely interesting stories. Among them are: “Kidnapping of corpses ”,“ Posthumous divorces ”,“ The mafia kills ”, "Jeweled dead", "Funerary Gazapos" and "The re-enactment".
In the prologue of the play, the author He expressed: “With this book I only intend to show that the death (of others) can become as interesting, extravagant or fun as life itself. And may God, or whoever, catch us confessed ”. What's more, He explained how he was developing this book for almost a decade and that his journalistic experience was fundamental.
Among the stories we can find are:
- "Alexander I, a dead and vanished tsar" (1777 - 1825)
- "John XXIII, the perfect embalmed" (1881 - 1963)
- "Pythagoras, a deceitful dead man" (XNUMXth - XNUMXth century BC)
- "The impostor mummy of Francisco Pizarro" (1471? - 1541)
- "The funeral" cache "of Marilyn Monroe" (1926 - 1962)
- "Pablo Escobar, a sloppy exhumation" (1949 - 1993)
Little stories of history: anecdotes, nonsense, algarias and fools of humanity (2009)
This book - the third one from Madrid - was presented after the success of Dust you are. Throughout its 13 chapters, Concostrina jokingly and painstakingly describes several truly disturbing events. Among the various stories that are told are: "Algaradas", "Love, love affairs and shenanigans", "Mamarrachadas", "Mundane questions" and "Revoltosos".
As in her previous work, the writer sought to show some events in human history in a different way, without so much “academicism”, in order to reach readers more effectively. In his introduction he argued: “These are just small strokes that are only intended to be useful to prod curiosity and push, hopefully, to drink from more learned sources ”.
Illustrated deaths of mankind (2012)
It is the fourth work of the writer. It was preliminarily published as Dust you are II, as it follows the same line of the homonymous text of 2009. Among the unexpected incidents that the bodies of the protagonists pass through are entertaining subplots full of the author's characteristic humor. In addition, the hilarious episodes are complemented by illustrations by Forges.
Some of the stories that we can find are:
- "The Round Trip Skull of Joseph Haydn"
- "The conceited skull of Francisco de Quevedo"
- "The good complexion of Comrade Lenin"
- "Dorothy Parker Dust"
- "The downtrodden César Borgia"
The one of San Quintín and other small stories of History was put together (2012)
It is a collection of events — miscues and barbarities — that have occurred since writing made its formal appearance some 5000 years ago, giving way to known history. Contrary to the other two books, this one presents situations that occurred "in life."
The humorous imprint of the author persists in each story. The protagonists belong to different social strata and areas of human endeavor, so that between the lines of the book you will find: politicians, celebrities, nuncios, hierarchs and even royal figures. It is worth noting that, although widely known historical aspects are discussed, the text has unpublished content that will amaze more than one.
The book has 16 chapters where dozens of stories whose content is diverse are distributed. We will witness: wars, ecclesiastical struggles, riots in cities ... These are some of the stories:
- "Empire State, the roof of New York"
- "Battle of Austerlitz"
- "Claudica the survivor Claudio"
- "Santiago, the insatiable tax collector"
Antonia (2014)
It is the debut of the author in the genre of literary narrative. The novel tells the story of his mother, Antonia, a woman who came to the world when Spain was going through a difficult time - early 1930s. With this work, Concostrina wanted to pay tribute to all the women who fought for a better life for their children during the Spanish Civil War and the following years.
The author, page by page, describes much of the hardships his family went through while raising his mother, and how this, subsequently, overlapped the continuous proof that life introduced him. As is usual in the writer, the story is impregnated with humor and touches of irony, this in order to soften a bit the bloody situations that she had to narrate.
History in Trouble: 5 Notables, 4 Outstanding, and a Cress (2021)
It is the last book by Concostrina. A brief account of the lives of ten notable personalities who marked history is given in the text.. The author emphasizes the ideological struggles of each protagonist in the different contexts in which they had to prevail. Miguel Ángel, Marie Curie, Cervantes, Oscar Wilde, Isabel de Braganza and Fernando VII are just some of the characters found in their lines.
The work —which maintains the funny style of the writer— belongs to the infantile / juvenile genre. In an interview with Efe, Concostrina commented: «When I write the script for a character, I don't think about it being funny, I just look for interesting stories«. Each narration is complemented with illustrations by Alba Medina Perucha.
Some of the stories included in the book are:
- "How Michelangelo ends up being David's father, a sculpture that he did not start"
- "Cervantes in his captivity"
- "Isabel de Berganza creator of El Prado"
About the author, Nieves Concostrina
Concostrina Snow
Nieves Concostrina Villarreal was born on Tuesday, August 1, 1961 in Madrid, Spain. El Diary 16 It was his journalism school, there he worked from 1982 to 1997. Later, he continued his career in other television media, such as Antena 3. He also shone in the radio field with: "Polvo Eres" by radio 5 and "It's not just any day" by radio 1.
In 2005 she presented her first work as a writer: ... and into dust you will become, the epitaph photo book. From then on he published eight other works, distinguished by their peculiar style and humor. Other texts by the author:
- Little Quijostorias (2016)
- Imperfect past (2018)
Awards given to Nieves Concostrina
Public recognition has not been alien to the author. Here are other awards he has received:
- 2005 XX Andalusia Prize for Journalism, in its radio modality, from the Junta de Andalucía
- 2010 Paradores de España International Short Story Award
- 2010 King of Spain International Award for Radio Journalism
- 2010 Golden Microphone awarded by the Spanish Federation of Radio and Television Associations
- 2021 Progressive Women Award in the Culture category, awarded by the Federation of Progressive Women