The first time in my life that I saw María Dueñas was on a Saturday, we were next to a newspaper kiosk on Calle Santa Engracia, in Madrid, she was carrying a light brown bag with which she covered her knees and we greet as if we both came from a long journey in which they had agreed without speaking to each other. But it was the first time we met. Then, when a moment had passed since the farewell, I realized that the woman I had just met was precisely María Dueñas, already a very successful writer, who was there, simply, to buy a newspaper. He probably did not know who it was that had just accosted her, and she would then go to her house, or wherever, completely forgetting that accidental greeting from whom it might well be an admirer or a burden that , like her, had stopped to buy anything and some newspapers.
This unimportant incident surrounded the life of this journalist whenever, thereafter, I encountered his books, his statements, the truly successful development of his now long career, if only has published five novels so far, the well-known El tiempo entre costuras, in addition to La templanza, Misión Olvido, Las hijas del Capitán and, still fresh on the shelves, Sira. All these books have had a desire to explain, with patience and knowledge, stories that have nothing to do with her, but to which she confers not only the audacity of knowledge, but the consequence of research.
This attitude, so conscious, so forced to make her stories a literary obligation and an explanation of herself, resembles the character of that woman to whom I greeted at Santa Engracia without much awareness of whom I was greeting fulfillment
This fact, which filled me with guilt as a journalist, made me, later, give her at least two interviews (this is the third), and invite her, in addition, to a conversation session in Arona, in the south of Tenerife and, in short, to maintain a relationship with her that already overcomes the distraction in which those of us who walk down the street fall without knowing who we are really greeting. It is a blessing to know her, and to read her, and this will be said by the many who approach her, to greet her as well, in the numerous fairs she attends (she has just been, with great success, to the one in Buenos Aires, because Sira, the last novel he has published, always in Planeta, has Evita de Perón as one of its protagonists). This notoriety that follows the publication of each of her books has not made her vain, so she is not a diva, especially since she has never felt like a diva.
It is curious that in the history of our interviews there was only one in Tenerife that was done in person, in front of an audience. Also, it wasn’t for the press. The others were done through cybernetic artifacts, once because of the pandemic and now because her schedules and travels kept her out of the reach of a face-to-face. So, I know well the walls of his house, clean and sunny, I have seen him smile in front of some questions, but the luck of interviewing has not left me room for the personal encounter that requires a questionnaire in which we were going to talk, for example, about life in childhood.
However, she saved the situation and at some point it seemed that we were in the same living room, to the point that, when we were going to say goodbye to her on the screen, she said the following when I thanked him for taking care of me: “Are we done yet? Well, what a pleasant conversation! Thanks to you, as always. Well, you’ve stretched my tongue a lot! Let’s see what happens!” And here is everything we talked about.
You already know that in this series of interviews we also try to find out what happened in the childhood of the interviewees, based on some verses by a German poet, Michael Kruger, who, in one of his poems, explains that sometimes childhood sends him a postcard. What postcards does childhood send you?
He sends me a lot. Constantly. Now in the summer, for example, I remember the summer meals with my family, under a vine. No rush, late, after going to the pool. We ate a lot of gazpacho, salmorejo, watermelon and melon for dessert. And, well, this postcard is of my entire family. Now my mother is missing, a brother…
When did he begin to discover that childhood was ending?
I wanted my childhood to end because I wanted to leave home. Maybe because there were many of us there. I wanted to be independent, to see the world… that’s why I didn’t care that childhood ended. Coming into adolescence was a pretty smooth ride, with hormones raging, but no setbacks. But, I tell you, I wanted to leave the house.
Did this work for literature?
Yes. But more than what I experienced, what I read. I read novels by Jules Verne, The Five… In other words: literature served me as an escape. There was no television or internet, so there were other worlds. This power of literature to take me out of reality fascinated me.
In his literature there is passion and parsimony. Is this part of his character?
Well, I’m not a crazy person who jumps into pools or someone who is always still. But I do try to add excitement to things. I can be relatively passionate, yes. Parsimony… no: I go with serenity, without entanglements, but I don’t think I fit into parsimony. I went to Madrid when I was 17. But it wasn’t that far a place either. The big change was when I went to the United States, after finishing my degree. I was studying and teaching Spanish in Michigan and this is where I think I completely broke the egg. Living on my own, without support, in another country… opened my eyes to the world.
And how did the world seem to him?
Well, it seemed much more varied, richer than what I had experienced. The Complutense library was very bureaucratic, for example. And not in the United States. You went and got what you wanted. In addition, there the libraries were already starting to be computerized and in Spain, not. There were people from a thousand places at the University, I had a couple of lesbians who were close friends of mine, something that could not happen in Spain. Or so I thought at the time. The world was much more uninhibited than in Spain, of course.
And Spain today, how do you find it?
Well…regular. We have certainly made progress. But even so… one does not stop being shocked by some things. With what has happened at the Melilla border, for example. Oh my God! And, well, in this country there is a lack of people who seduce me because of what they do, because of what they have achieved. I lack someone to blindly admire in this country. Lack of common sense, reasoning, common sense, intelligence to go through life. This is missing.
Are you currently writing a novel?
Mentally, yes. When I sit down to write I will already have it written in my head.
That indicates immense power of concentration, doesn’t it? Where does it come from?
Well, I think that from childhood, from living in a very large house, but with many people, with a large family, I mean, with few corners for privacy. And I think that produced a capacity for mental isolation.
And this has not inspired a story?
No. Because I think that I do very little about myself and my family in what I write. At least consciously. It’s that I don’t want to put mine in the window. I find it more interesting to create other worlds alien to me.
And why hasn’t she been tempted to explain herself?
No. never never in life I live 24 hours a day with myself and when I start writing, I want to focus on others.
What is the moment in your life that you have never been able to forget?
I don’t know… Something about family life, maybe. It’s just that I haven’t had big earthquakes in my life.
Why did it take you so long to post?
Because I was a university professor with a very busy life and I had no idea that I was going to write and then publish it. You have to do theses, articles, you have to do an opposition to win your place… all this takes a lot of time. So, until I was 41 I was in it. I also had two children. During another stay in the United States I considered writing and I did.
And how was his first novel shown to him?
First I thought of Misión Olvido, which ended up being my second novel. But after I returned from the United States, I thought of my relatives in Morocco and knew that I had to write this story quickly, because the main characters were dying. I parked the other one and El tiempo entre couture came up.
Morocco is now a hotly contested factor in Spain, but it is an important part of our history.
How sad, yes. The Spanish footprint in Morocco has been very undervalued. We should claim that we were there, contributing to make Morocco today. It wasn’t done out of negligence, I think. But it is part of our past and we must remember it.
How does it feel to turn real historical facts into fiction?
It’s just that I don’t resist putting aside the academic that I carry inside. University work requires rigor and that stuck with me. I document a lot and then use these real scenarios to create my plots and subplots.
How do you feel that your work is always on the side of the best sellers?
Well… well, I live with that. It doesn’t hurt me, but it’s a little annoying. Because this label is like a prejudice, isn’t it? Publishing in a commercial publisher and selling a lot doesn’t mean it doesn’t make good literature. However, there are literary supplements that do not consider my books, for example. Here in Spain, I say. Because in Latin America they dedicate whole pages to me..
And does this affect his literature?
No, no, no. Neither to my literature nor to me. Because for me what is fundamental is not to be in the supplements, but to have readers. I am delighted to go to the fairs and meet them and that there are translations of my books and audiovisual projects based on them.
Are you a cheerful person? What things interrupt this joy?
More than cheerful, I am a positive person. optimist That we are here for four days, Juan! But yes, things confuse me. Minimal things: a train you miss, an argument with someone I love. this
His most passionate book is called “Templanza”.
Hahaha, yes, yes. I like this title more and more. Because every time I apply more temperance in life. The passion between the characters in this novel is contained but manifests itself at the right time. And I liked that idea. I still like it today.
Maybe that reflects his way of being.
Maybe yes.