Photograph by Rosa Ribas. Twitter profile.
rose ribas is the creator of Cornelia Weber-Weaver en Between two waters, la 50s trilogy (already four hands with the writer Sabine Hoffman) composed by Gift of Tongues, The Great Cold and Navy Blue, all black cut. But also sign Pension Leonardo, The Nearsighted Detective, Miss Fifty o The moon in the mines. And now he has the Hernández, a family of detectives who star An all too familiar affair y Good sons, which has come out this year.
I thank you very much this interview that you have dedicated to me, your kindness and attention. In it he tells us about everything a little, from his first influences, going through their authors favorites and new projects you have planned, as well as taking a look at the overall publishing landscape.
Rosa Ribas - Interview
- ACTUALIDAD LITERATURA: Do you remember the first book you read? And the first story you wrote?
ROSA RIBAS: I don't remember the first book for sure. Two covers come to mind: The black corsair by Emilio Salgari, a book that I still keep and keep as a treasure. I don't know how many times I got to read this book. And another of Enid blyton, All five are in trouble, I think it was.
The first story I remember I must have written when I was about ten years old. It was one terribly sentimental and dramatic story about a bull who did not want to die in the plaza. I remember that I wrote it in class (the teacher would make me write so that I would be quiet for a while) and then I had to read it in front of the whole class. The best thing was to see that the boy I liked (Hello, Quique!) Secretly wiped a tear at the end of the reading.
- AL: What was the first book that struck you and why?
RR: If I remember correctly, a book of stories by Poe, which maybe I read too early and caused me a lot of night terrors.
- AL: A head writer? You can choose more than one and from all eras.
RR: John Irving. One of my favorite writers. I don't like very long novels, but with Irving I could go on for a hundred or two hundred more pages.
- AL: What character in a book would you have liked to meet and create?
RR: I would have liked to meet the brave soldier Schwejk, by Jaroslav Hasek and have a few beers with him. And create, Ripley, from Highsmith.
- AL: Any special habits or habits when it comes to writing or reading?
RR: I write by hand and pencil. Then I pass it to the computer
- AL: And your preferred place and time to do it?
RR: Before the pandemic, I started writing in a cafe. Now I have learned to start work on my desk.
- AL: Other genres that you like?
RR: I have no preferences. I am a pretty chaotic reader and open to all kinds of readings.
- AL: What are you reading now? And writing?
RR: I always have several books at once. I'm reading The Polish Boxer by Eduardo Halfon, Still Lifeby Louise Penny and Aberteurliche Reise durch mein Zimmerby Karl-Markus Gauß. En these moments I am reviewing a short novel. But more I can not count.
- AL: How do you think the publishing scene is for as many authors as there are or want to publish?
RR: Complicated, although perhaps it is not that there are more authors, but more people who make public their interest in publishing. Which, on the other hand, corresponds to the fact that there are also more options for publication.
- 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?
RR: Well, because of my profession, I am used to isolation, to spending many hours in a room working. But it has always been a voluntary confinement. Now, after so many months of a pandemic, I notice the fatigue that we all share. To know if I will get something positive out of this, I still lack perspective.