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“I do not like my books to be considered as historical novels. The term is an oxymoron: either they are novels or they are history”. This is how Javier Cercas rejects a label that is often given to his novels and defends the fictional material in his stories. However, one of the distinguishing themes of his works, like those of José Manuel Fajardo, another leading Spanish writer, is the historical reconstruction of those events, large and small, which make up the collective memory of a country, of a generation. As if recounting an individual experience in literary form were an opportunity to investigate and shed light on aspects ignored by history. Pino Cacucci quizzes the two writers in an attempt to discover how “writing stories” can sometimes signify “writing history”.

José Manuel Fajardo
has lived in Madrid for most of his life. He abandoned law school during the unrest which followed the death of Franco, dedicating his efforts to cultural journalism. He has worked as editor for a number of periodicals, including the daily newspapers “El País” and “Liberación”, and currently contributes to the daily newspaper “El Mundo”. Guanda has published a number of his books: Carta del fin del mundo (1997), Al di là dei mari (1999), Una bellezza convulsa (2002), Vidas exageradas (2004), Il sapore perfetto (2006), Mi nombre es Jamaica (2011).

Pino Cacucci
translates works from Spanish and is the co-author of film scripts and screenplays. He has lived for many years outside his native Italy, mostly in Mexico. His life in Mexico is a recurring theme in his vast volume of work, which includes short stories, the travel book La Polvere del Messico, novels and biographies of revolutionary and anti-conformist figures who played leading rôles in past and present Mexican history. His many published works include: Puerto Escondido (on which the famous film by Gabriele Salvatores was based), Demasiado corazón, Ribelli, Nahui, Nessuno può portarti un fiore.