This Friday, February 1st, we will have the presentation of the book 'Un mal español' by Federico de Arce from Cieza at the Padre Salmerón Municipal Library at 8 pm.
Mochuelo Libros is releasing a new book conceived in Toledo. This time, author Federico de Arce launches a collection titled Écfrasis, a collection of literary works that also reflect on visual works.
A Bad Spaniard is a long poem that echoes the stark and impactful work of Goya, traveling to the 19th century to see through the eyes of Ramón Casas, who makes tangible the darkness portrayed by Berlanga. It seeks to understand the incomprehensible… to see if, through this vile effort, the madness of division will end.
About Federico de Arce:
Federico de Arce (Cieza, Murcia, 1968) holds a degree in Philosophy and Literature and teaches Literature at the Sefarad Institute in Toledo. He writes under his own name, but also under the names of his heteronyms, including Ismael Alcayna, José Luis de la Bodega, Anna and Hans Schliemann, Abraham Abravanel, and the Chinese poet Hu Zi, whom he considers his mentor. He is the author of the preliminary study El diario de Paco esteta y otros relatos (The Diary of Paco Esteta and Other Stories) by Francisco Rojas; the introduction, epilogue, and biography of the sculptor Alberto Sánchez, collected in Alberto. Encuentros en Toledo 1895-1995; and numerous texts of aesthetic reflection that have appeared in various specialized magazines and catalogs. He has published the novels ¿Por qué no hay una Hofbräuhaus en Toledo? (Why Isn't There a Hofbräuhaus in Toledo?), La voz de El Shaday (The Voice of El Shaday), and La vieja (The Old Woman), and the poetry collections Miel de Brujas (Witch's Honey) and Aguas arriba de mi madre (Upstream of My Mother). A selection from his book "In the Guest House" appeared in the magazine El signo del gorrión. Winner of the Dulce Chacón literary competition with "Piratas," he is the author of the essay "Dulce Chacón, the Spider Woman." Inspired by "Waiting for Godot," he wrote and directed "Pleased to Meet You," a rock opera recognized by the Ministry of Culture.
However, the editors find greater merit in certain biographical aspects of the author: his having managed to get used to waking up early, over the decades, to meditate; his having transformed a deserted urban wasteland into a garden destined to be the pride of the people of Toledo; his ability to escape to the countryside, to Marjaliza, to read and write by the warmth of the fire.