2020 Guests

Alba Carballal

(Lugo, 1992) is an architect and writer. Her first novel, ‘Tres maneras de inducir un coma’ (Three Ways to Induce a Coma), published by Seix Barral in 2019, is a fun satire that follows in the footsteps of the humour of Eduardo Mendoza. She collaborates as a columnist for the Vocento group, for the magazine Arquitectura Viva and on the literary website Zelda. She is also a scriptwriter for the programme ‘Late Motiv’ with Buenafuente and, alongside Darío Adanti, she co-leads the podcast “El milenarismo” (Millenarianism) on literature and comedy.

César Coca

His entire professional career has been linked to the newspaper El Correo, where has worked for the Economics, Local, Society and Culture Sections. He is currently also assistant director at this newspaper. He is the author or co-author of a dozen books and won the Miguel de Unamuno Essay Prize in 2006. César Coco also teaches Journalism at the University of the Basque Country as well as the El Correo Journalism Master’s Program at the same university.

Aixa de la Cruz

(Bilbao, 1988) holds a doctorate in Literary Theory and Comparative Literature and is a writ-er. She has published novels such as ‘Cuando fuimos los mejores’ (When We Were the Best) (Almuzara, 2007) and ‘La línea del frente’ (The Front Line) (Salto de Página, 2017) and the short story collection ‘Modelos animales’ (Animal Models) (Salto de Página, 2015). She has also collaborated on different anthologies such as ‘Última temporada’ (Last Season) (Lengua de Trapo, 2013) and ‘Bajo treinta’ (Under Thirty) (Salto de página, 2013). Her latest book is ‘Cambiar de idea’ (Changing One´s Mind) (Caballo de Troya, 2019).

Marta Sanz

(Madrid, 1967) is one of the most outstanding novelists of her generation. Her novels, mainly published by the publishing house Anagrama notably include ‘Un buen detective no se casa jamás’ (A Good Detective Never Marries), ’La lección de anatomía’ (The Anatomy Lesson) and ‘Farándula’ (Show Business), the satire that earned her the Herralde Novel Prize. She is also the author of several poetry collections and regularly collaborates with the cultural sections of El País and in El Mundo´s supplement El Cultural. Her latest novel is ‘pequeñas mujeres rojas’ (small red women), the last instalment of the trilogy of the unusual detective Arturo Zarco.

Rubén Amón

(Madrid, 1969) has worked in almost every genre as a journalist (from bullfighting, culture and sports criticism to press columns), he has been a correspondent in Rome and Paris, he has covered armed conflicts in the Balkans and has worked for both the radio (Onda Cero) and television (Antena 3) and for the press (currently at El Confidencial). As a result of this versatility and his “capacity to entertain, with irony and humour, without sacrificing rigour” he was awarded the Francisco Cerecedo Journalism Prize in 2018. He is also the author of several essays, notably including the biography of Plácido Domingo, ‘Un coloso en el teatro del mundo’ (A Colossus on the World Stage) (Planeta, 2012).

Sergio del Molino

(1979) is the author of the crucial narrative essay ‘La España vacía’ (Empty Spain) (2016), which managed to bring the problem of depopulation to the forefront of current affairs. Previously, he had won the Ojo Crítico and Tigre Juan prizes with ‘La hora violeta’ (The Violet Hour) (2013) and he subsequently won the Espasa Prize for ‘Lugares fuera de sitio’ (Outside Places) (2018). He is also the author of novels such as ‘Lo que a nadie le importa’ (What Nobody Cares About) (2014) and ‘La mirada de los peces’(The Look of Fish) (2017). He is a columnist for El País and collaborates on Onda Cero as a member of La Cultureta, among other programmes. His latest book is ‘La piel’ (Skin) published in 2020 by Alfaguara.

Rosa Belmonte

Born in Murcia and a Law graduate, Rosa Belmonte was a lawyer before she became a newspaper writer. She combined the defence of rapists with writing until she chose to watch things and talk about them. With humour. Watching television and talking about it (more of a chronicle than criticism), watching politicians and talking about them, watching life and talking about it. Always linked to the Vocento group, she writes columns without frills, “with the sole aim of turning a joke into a tiny revolution, as Orwell would say”.  She collaborates on Onda Cero where, in addition to analysing the gossip magazines with Josemi Rodríguez Sieiro, she is part of La Cultureta.

Raúl Cimas

Was born in Albacete in 1976. Since then he has worked to make us laugh. His curriculum is the perfect itinerary for a tour of the best comedy: ‘La hora chanante’ (The Amazing Hour), ‘Muchachada Nui’, ‘Buenafuente’, ‘Museo Coconut’ (Coconut Museum) and ‘Óxido Nitroso’ (Nitrous Oxide) are just some of the stops. He is also the author of several comic books pub-lished by Blackie Books: ‘Demasiada pasión por lo suyo’ (Too Much Passion for His Thing), ‘Orgullo Brutal’ (Brutal Pride) and the last, ´Prodigios’ (Wonders), an illustrated almanac of creatures that are fantastic and others that are regrettable.

Pantomima Full

is the comedy duo formed by Alberto Casado and Rober Bodegas, two comics who met when working as scriptwriters on the La Sexta programme ‘Sé lo que hicisteis’ (I Know What You Did). Their sketches are a parody of the average city dweller aged between 20 and 40, they enjoy great success on social networks and on their tours around Spanish theatres. Alberto Casado is a comic, scriptwriter and presenter on programmes such as ´Sé lo que hicisteis’ (I Know What You Did), ‘¿Qué está pasando?’ (What is Happening) and ‘Ese programa del que usted me habla’ (That Programme You Tell Me About). Rober Bodegas was going to be an interior designer until he won the programme ‘El Rey de la Comedia’ (The King of Comedy) on channel 1. He is currently one of the headlining comics on Comedy Central and has taken part in comedy programmes such as ‘Ilustres Ignorantes’ (Ignorant Illustrious People) (Canal+), ‘Sé lo que hicisteis’ (I Know What You Did) (La Sexta) and ‘Hazte un Selfi’ (Take a Selfie) (Cuatro).

Inés París

(Madrid 1962) is a director and scriptwriter for film and television. Among other films, she has directed and written ‘A mi madre le gustan las mujeres’ (My Mother Likes Women) (2002), ‘Semen, una historia de amor’ (Semen, a Love Sample), (2005), both alongside Dan-iela Fejerman, and ‘La noche que mi madre mató a mi padre’ (The Night My Mother Killed My Father) (2016). She has also been president of CIMA (Association of Women Filmmakers and Audiovisual Media) and the SGAE Foundation. She has taught courses at Spanish and foreign universities and is currently a lecturer at the ECAM (Madrid Cinematography and Audiovisual School) and a teacher on the Masters in scriptwriting at Carlos III University of Madrid.

www.juanbas.es

Asier Sanz

(Bilbao, 1969) is an illustrator, cartoonist and collage artist. He began publishing in the news-paper Bilbao in 1987, before continuing his career at Deia, ETB, TVE and Mundo Deportivo. Since 1999, he has also been part of the duo of cartoonists Asier and Javier. This relationship has led to daily comic strips in Diario 16 and Diario Metro, and he also collaborates on El Jueves, Deia, Onda Vasca, Orgullo y Satisfacción (Pride and Satisfaction), the newspaper Bil-bao and 20minutos. He has devised and produced advertising campaigns and illustrated several books. His work has been awarded several international prizes.