FIL Program 2024 Program Search
Literary Program
Spain, Guest of Honor
Literary Program
"Short forms"
Spain, Guest of Honor
Literary Program
"Short forms"
Three generations of resilient storytellers and a heroic editor will join forces in this conversation to try to paint a current picture of the short form, unfairly and unjustifiably regarded as the black sheep of literature. What Borges would say in this case we can't know, but we will be able to hear the insights of Clara Obligado, Ismael Ramos and Eloy Tizón, writers who have dedicated their work to the story genre, and of editor Juan Casamayor. Not only will they talk to us about their most recent works, but also about the tradition of short stories, a veritable laboratory of formal and thematic experimentation (realist, fantasy, crime, political, etc.)
Participants: Clara Obligado, Ismael Ramos, Eloy Tizón
Moderator: Juan Casamayor
Clara Obligado
Invitado de HonorShe was born in Buenos Aires and has lived in Madrid since 1976, where she teaches creative writing workshops. She received the Lumen Award for her novel La hija de Marx, the Juan March Cencillo Short Novel Award for Petrarca para viajeros (Pre-Textos,) and the Setenil Award for the best storybook of the year for El libro de los viajes equivocados.
Her non-fiction works Una casa lejos de casa and Todo lo que crece have been republished on multiple occasions, and the latter is being translated into English by X Artists' Books. As an anthologist, she ventured into short stories with Por favor, sea breve and she coordinated for Nórdica publishers the Atlas de Literatura Latinoamericana (arquitectura inestable). Her latest book is Tres maneras de decir adiós (Páginas de Espuma, 2024).
She has never lost contact with her country of origin, where her work is published by different publishers.
Other activities involving the participant:
Meetings (and misunderstandings). Challenges of recent Spanish narrative
Ismael Ramos
Invitado de Honor(Mazaricos, A Coruña, 1994) is a Galician-language writer. His first fiction book, A parte fácil (Xerais, 2023), has been published in Spanish by Las afueras (La parte fácil) and in Catalan by Angle (La part fácil). He is also the author of three poetry books: Lixeiro (Xerais, 2021), Lumes (Apiario, 2017) and Os fillos da fame (Xerais, 2016). Two of them have been translated into Spanish: Ligero (La Bella Warsaw, 2021) and Fuegos (La Bella Warsaw, 2019), and one into Portuguese: Fogos (Do lado esquerdo, 2022).
He has received the Premio Nacional de Poesía Joven Award (2022) presented by the Ministry of Culture, and the Javier Morote Award (2019), presented by the independent Spanish bookstores (CEGAL) for the best new author.
As a writer, he is a frequent collaborator with eldiario.es.
Other activities involving the participant:
The gift of the poem
Meetings (and misunderstandings). Challenges of recent Spanish narrative
Annual International Storytellers Conference
Eloy Tizón
Invitado de Honor(Madrid, 1964) Author of four storybooks: Plegaria para pirómanos (2023), Técnicas de iluminación (2013), Parpadeos (2006) and Velocidad de los jardines (1992 y 2017); of three novels: La voz cantante (2004), Labia (2001) and Seda salvaje (1995), and the literary essay Herido leve. Treinta años de memoria lectora (2019).
He has been included among the best European storytellers in the anthology Best European Fiction 2013, with a prologue by John Banville. His works are part of numerous anthologies and have been translated into various languages: English, French, Italian, German, Slovenian, Finnish and Arabic.
A frequent contributor to the media from a young age, he wrote the “Vértigos” column in El Cultural for four years.
He has taught workshops on short fiction stories at the Universidad de Almería (UAL) and at different teaching centers such as Fuentetaja, La Casa Encendida, Hotel Kafka and the Círculo de Bellas Artes.
He directed, in 2022 and 2023, the two editions of the Spanish literary storybook festival, held in the Toledo town of Torrijos and named TorrijosCuenta.
Other activities involving the participant:
Annual International Storytellers Conference
Juan Casamayor
Invitado de Honor(Madrid, 1968) founded the independent publishing house Páginas de Espuma in 1999, which has become a reference in the genre of short stories in Spanish. Its catalog includes major contemporary short story writers as well as classics of world literature. The imprint also features a significant collection of essays, including literary criticism, memoirs, diaries, travel books, and correspondence.
In 2017, Páginas de Espuma received the Editorial Merit Award from the Guadalajara International Book Fair (Mexico). In 2019, it was honored with the Best Cultural Editorial Work Award from the Ministry of Culture of Spain, and in 2023, it won the Editorial Merit Award from the UANLeer International Fair of Monterrey, organized by the Universidad de Nuevo León (Mexico). He teaches classes in various master's programs and courses in editing and creative writing.
Other activities involving the participant:
Panel 5: The Different Accents of Spanish
Friday, December 06
17:00 to 17:50
Salón 1, planta baja, Expo Guadalajara
Sigue las transmisiones en vivo, a traves de nuestro canal 
En vivo