Photography: Vic Echegoyen, courtesy of the author.
Vic echegoyen He was born in Madrid and has Hungarian blood. She works as a translator and interpreter and lives between Hungary, Vienna and Brussels. Also, she writes. The latest novel she has published is Resurrected. En this interview He tells us about her and other topics. Thank you so much the time dedicated to serving me.
Vic Echegoyen — Interview
- ACTUALIDAD LITERATURA: Your latest novel is titled Resurrected. What do you tell us about it and where did the idea come from?
VIC ECHEGOYEN: Through a hundred real characters, from the king to a little monkey, through slaves, prisoners, soldiers, prostitutes, aristocrats, nuns and musicians, I tell you the six hours of the triple catastrophe (four earthquakes, three tsunamis and a gigantic fire) who destroyed Lisbon and part of Portugal and Spain on November 1, 1755literally minute by minute.
The germ of the idea arose in the summers from my childhood en the coast of Huelva, where several cracked buildings and crooked bell towers due to that catastrophe caught my attention: the decision to write the novel arose in the shadow of the ruins of the great gothic convent of Carmel, devastated by earthquakes and fire, never rebuilt, and a symbol of Lisbon ever since.
- AL: Can you remember any of your first readings? And the first story you wrote?
AND: I learned to read when I was two years old thanks to the wonderful Argentine epic poem in verse Martin Fierro, by José Hernández, which my mother used to read to me: the story of that lonely, rude and brave gaucho who loses everything, except his courage and a very philosophical and wise attitude in the face of life's setbacks, is still one of my favorites.
Before I was four years old I entered the choir theater of the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, where I participated as the hijo de Madame Butterfly, one of the children devoured by the witch in Hansel y Gretel and one of the little gypsies Carmen. So the first story I wrote, although I don't remember it, surely had to do with one of those characters and worlds of geishas, marzipan children and smugglers, which were more real to me than real life at school.
- AL: A head writer? You can choose more than one and from all eras.
AND: My great uncle Sándor Márai (author of The last meeting, among dozens of other works) is my main "compass" in terms of level, style and quality: if one day I touch its perfection, even for a moment, I'll be satisfied. Other favorite authors are Laszlo Passuth (The God of Rain cries over Mexico y natural lordespecially), Friedrich Durrenmatt, Cheep baroja, Anais Nin, Patrick O'Brian, Horacio Quiroga, Alfonsina Storni, Kim Newman and Elizabeth Hand.
- AL: What character in a book would you have liked to meet and create?
AND: Humans, or almost: the mule, from the Asimov Foundation cycle. Very original, unpredictable, and whose ambiguity fascinates and repels us in equal parts.
Non-humans: the creature of Frankenstein, which embodies all the greatness and misery of the human being, and Sun-Leks, the old husky dog who leads the pack that pulls the sled in The call of the wild, Jack London, masterfully defined in one sentence: «I didn't ask for anything. It didn't give anything. I wasn't expecting anything."
- AL: Any special habits or habits when it comes to writing or reading?
AND: I prefer the silence, daylight, I always write by hand and without using adjectives, and I never reread or correct what I've written: the first draft is the one my agent receives, and the one he sends to the editors. If it doesn't turn out the way I intended the first time, then there's no revision or change to save it: it goes in the bin, and I start a new and different story.
- AL: And your preferred place and time to do it?
AND: For the morning, and anywhere will do, as long as it's quiet, has a comfortable chair, and is near a window.
- AL: Are there other genres that you like?
AND: Apart from historical novel, I love what I call surreal macabre dystopia, and I have already written two short novels that I think are the most personal.
- What are you reading now? And writing?
AND: I'm reading several books on the History of Portugal, especially Salazar's goings-on during World War II. I'm writing another historical novel, totally different from the previous three due to style, place and time (more modern).
- AL: How do you think the publishing scene is and what decided you to try to publish?
AND: As I have been living outside of Spain for 30 years and I know very few people in that circle, that literary world seems remote to me and the rules that the cotarros, bestsellers and prizes follow are for me Mandarin Chinese, so I'm afraid I can't comment. I've been writing since my childhood and have two writers in the family (on my Hungarian side), so it was only a matter of time trying my luck with an agent, but first I wrote seven novels and waited almost 25 years before I felt confident enough.
- 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?
AND: Personally and professionally, I find it difficult because, being interpreter for international organizations located at both ends of Europe (Vienna and Brussels), I have to continuously travel from here to there, and the crisis, the pandemic and the current war in Ukraine directly affect my work. In addition, any travel restrictions complicate my family and personal life, as my family lives scattered around the world. But all these are causes of force majeure: you have to accept them, adapt as much as possible, continue to improve in my work, and recognize and catch each occasion on the fly.
It is often said that every crisis holds an opportunity, and many times it is true; but, instead of getting angry or lamenting, it is convenient to ask yourself: “Ok, this problem has arisen. What can I do, here and now, in the short and medium term, to overcome it, avoid it, or cope as well as possible?"
Since almost no one in Spain can make a living from writing, and we authors still have to earn a living with some other job, for a writer (unless he is homeless and without health) this crisis is much more bearable that, for example, for a publisher, an agent or a bookseller, because the only thing that no one can take away from us is precisely what makes us unique, and the key to the entire literary shenanigans: inspiration and the discipline to dedicate even if only a few minutes a day to invent and create characters, stories and worlds.