Antonio Lucas and Alejandro Simón Partal. Traitors of Poetry

They are both poets. They have both published their first novel this year. Antonio Lucas makes his debut with “Good Sea”, the story of a journalist who decides to embark on a fishing boat to find out what life and work is like for those men who spend their lives at sea so that we can eat fresh fish. Alejandro Simón Partal, with “The Plot of Land”, presents the story of a Spanish literature teacher who arrives in the port city of Boulogne sur Mer at a time of deep personal turmoil.

They will both take a seat to talk about the communicating vessels that exist between the two genres and the differences they have detected during their creative process. They will also analyse whether their prose has benefited from their experience with poetry, or if on the contrary, they have preferred to completely reject the genre that turned them into authors, so as to be able to venture into a world they did not master out of curiosity and innocence.

Antonio Lucas (Madrid, 1975) is a poet and journalist. A graduate in Information Sciences, he is the director of the cultural supplement La Esfera de Papel, a column writer in the Opinion section of the El Mundo newspaper, and a contributor to Radio Nacional de España and Cadena SER. His most noteworthy poetic works include “Opposite Worlds” (Visor, 2009), winner of the 30th City of Melilla International Poetry Award; “The Disappointments” (Visor, 2014), winner of the Loewe Award; and “The Nudes” (Visor, 2020), Winner of the Generación del 27 Poetry Award. “Good Sea” (Alfaguara, 2021) is his first novel.

Alejandro Simón Partal (Estepona, 1983) holds a PhD in Hispanic Philosophy and is a writer and poet and a university professor. His poetic works include “A Good Hour” (Visor, 2019), winner of the Hermanos Argensola International Poetry Award; and “Pure Strength” (Pre-Textos, 2017), winner of the Arcipreste de Hita Award. He has been resident author at the Etopia Art and Technology Centre in Zaragoza and he has also worked in universities in France and the Czech Republic. “The Plot of Land” (Caballo de Troya, 2021) is his first novel.