![]() ![]() El último Catón, Asensi’s third novel, appeared in all of these languages, as well as Greek, Romanian, Slovak and also English, as The Last Cato: A Novel, which has i ts very own English-language website (warning – sound!).** In an unmistakeable play for an established audience, the blurb on the website and the front cover claims that ‘it will do for Dante what Dan Brown did for Da Vinci’. It has been published in Portuguese, Polish, French, German and Italian, but not (as far as I can see) English. One thing I noticed from the map is the absence of Catalonia, although half of Asensi’s novels are also available in Catalan versions.* Perhaps unsurprisingly, Catalonia doesn’t appear to count as ‘internacional,’ but then again, nor do the Catalan versions appear under ‘Spanish editions’ – so as far as Editorial Planeta, who sponsor the website, are concerned, it seems they are largely invisible…Īsensi’s claim to an international profile rests primarily on three novels: Iacobus (2000), El último Catón (2001) and Todo bajo el cielo (2006) Iacobus, her second novel, is described on her website as ‘La novela que abrió las puertas del mercado internacional a Matilde Asensi’ (the novel that opened the doors of the international market to Matilde Asensi). Interestingly, other than South Korea, these are primarily in Europe, although the few English-language versions have come via the US rather than Britain, and there are both Portuguese and Brazilian editions of O último Catão. Meanwhile, Asensi’s webpage is entirely in Spanish, although there is an ‘internacional’ page, where you can see a map with the countries where her books have been published. ![]() If you clicked on the Ruiz Zafón link above, you’ll have noticed that not only is it a fully English-language website, but it even has a British domain (.co.uk) similarly, while Falcones himself doesn’t seem to have an author website, the Catedral del mar website is available in English, Castilian and Catalan. Is it the case now that an author hasn’t really made it until national success turns into global recognition? If so, I would argue that Asensi is still some way behind her two male peers, particularly with regard to their relationship with the Anglophone world. Certainly Asensi usually appears below Carlos Ruiz Zafón and Ildefonso Falcones on the annual lists of Spain’s bestselling authors, but then both Falcones and Ruiz Zafón made their names largely from a single, doorstopping novel, while Asensi has published eight novels since 1999 at a rate of more or less one a year, so maybe there’s a cumulative effect? In any case, hers is an interesting case study for considering the whole question of how a national bestselling author becomes a global bestselling author, especially given the complexities of Spain’s cultural geopolitics. Additional information: You can consult additional and detailed information on Data Protection in our privacy policy.Damn! I wrote this whole post and poof! it was gone … so … I promised a couple of months back to talk a bit more about Matilde Asensi, who has been one of Spain’s bestselling authors for around 10 years now, but who I’d never come across until I began looking at Spain’s bestseller lists for an article I was researching earlier this year.Īsensi is described on her website as ‘la autora española más leída’ (the most-read Spanish author), although it’s slightly unclear whether that’s a gender-inflected claim or not. Rights: We inform you that you can exercise your rights of access, rectification, cancellation and opposition to the processing of your data through this contact form or by sending an e-mail to the following address:, or in writing, attaching a copy of a document proving your identity to the address: Rua do Rego 6C 5☍ - Milladoiro,, 15895 - Ames (A Coruña). Term: Your data will be processed for the time strictly necessary to fulfil the specific purpose or purposes for which they were collected, until the loss of relevance of their use or, in any case, until they are cancelled in response to the exercise by the owner of the corresponding rights. Transfers: they will not be transferred to third parties, unless legally obliged to do so. ![]() Purpose and legitimacy: Your data will be processed for the purposes specified in the reason for contact and in order to respond to your requests or queries, legally based on express consent. Person responsible for processing: Your data will be processed by ALBA RODRIGUEZ SILGO with registered office at Rua do Rego 6C 5☍ - Milladoiro, 15895 - Ames (A Coruña). ![]()
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