Together with prestigious authors such as Ildefonso Falcones or Carlos Ruiz Zafon, the best current Spanish writers have managed to make the figure of women also be recognized in the publishing world and the literary scene.
Most of today’s Spanish writers have started their careers in another field and only after an overwhelming success with some of their novels have they managed to make a place for themselves in the world of letters .
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Current Spanish Writers
In the first places there are names of women (or pseudonyms) who, together with a great literary talent, have developed a great capacity for work and a vocational commitment that has taken them to where they are.
- Check here the complete list.
1. Almudena Grandes
One of the most successful writers is undoubtedly Almudena Grandes, and her story reflects the struggle of women to make a place for themselves in the world of literature: although her mother pushed her to study a women’s degree, her vocation for narrative prevented her from abandoning her dream of becoming a writer. And he got it.
Her success came in 1989 with The Ages of Lulu, an erotic novel that fascinated the public and received the Vertical Smile Award. It was also made into a movie by Bigas Luna. She later moved away from the erotic genre, but that first work of hers allowed her to live on literature .
She later published other novels that have become authentic best-sellers, many of them with a historical background and,in particular, about the Spanish civil war , such as El corazon frodo and the books in the series Episodes of an endless war. The last one was Doctor Garcia’s patients, in 2017.
In addition, Almudena Grandes is a columnist for El Pais and a contributor to Cadena Ser. 2. Julia Navarro
For most of her life, she has worked as a journalist, until in 2004 jump to literary fame with the novel La hermandad de la Sabana Santa, a mystery novel with which he sold a million copies worldwide.
Julia Navarro, one of the best current Spanish writers, is a self-made author, self-taught, who began to devour novels in the summer months while she took care of her son on vacation.. The first-time success has led her to write six more novels, among which the applauded Shoot, I’m already dead and You will not kill, the latter in 2018.
Since her first novel, Julia Navarro has covered her plots with a historical background, although she herself points out that it is only about scenarios, and that the weight of the story is never a determining factor in the stories.
She has abandoned journalism to dedicate herself to what she considers her true profession. With her novels she has garnered a dozen awards. 3. Maria Duenas
The overwhelming success of The time between seams, first with her own novel published in 2009 and later sponsored by the television series, brought Maria to the zenith of the Spanish literary scene. The novel was publishedin several languages and the awards rained down : in 2010 the City of Cartagena, and in 2011 the Community of Madrid.
This professor of English philology on leave at the University of Murcia became an enormous writer overnight, which has prompted her to continue writing .
She has published three more novels. With Mision Olvido she endured the pull of her first success, but more well received was Temperance, the best-selling book of 2015 and from which the production of a new television series was announced . In 2018 she has published Las hijas del Capitan, a historical novel about the Spanish colonies in New York at the beginning of the 20th century.
Undoubtedly a consolidated writer who has an even more promising future ahead of her.
The most established Spanish writers and novelists. | Image by: Hannah Olinger/Unsplash. 4. Dulce Chacon
Dulce Chacon started writing late and she did it in the field of poetry. With her second book of poems, Contra el desprestigio de la altitude, she won the City of Irun Prize in 1995. She later wrote her first novel, Algun amor que no mate, and five years later she won the Azorin Prize for Mud skies .
So Dulce Chacon’s literary career was more progressive than other successful authors, making inroads into dramaturgy and surprising again with a successful novel.in 2003: The sleeping voice. However, that same year and at the height of her literary career, she was admitted to the hospital where she died of pancreatic cancer.
Dulce Chacon had a lot left to give to Spanish letters, but we still have her novels, where she deals with complicated issues such as mistreatment of women with a delicate pen. In addition, she was a committed woman , participating for example in the Association of Women against Gender Violence. 5. Lucia Etxebarria
In recent years she has been known more for her polemics on television than for her literary talent, which is beyond any doubt. Because for many years Lucia Etxebarria has proven to be one of the best thanks to novels like Beatriz and the celestial bodies, whichin 1998 it made him win the Nadal Award .
She from there she jumped to literary fame and since then she has revealed herself as a prolific and very anarchic author, since she has published narrative, essay, poetry, theater and even scripts.
During all these years she began to claim the role of women and defend leftist political positions on television sets, which has made her a controversial character, often turned into a caricature.
Among other controversies, Lucia Etxebarria has been accused of plagiarism several times and raised blisters in the publishing world by revealing the insides of the business and the role of women in literature.Her feminist position and the way she deals with issues of sexuality have often generated a reaction from some sectors. 6. Dolores Redondo
She has achieved her fame thanks to the Baztan trilogy, a set of three police novels that launched her success and have made her write other novels. With her last one, All this I will give you, she won the Planeta Prize in 2016.
Dolores Redondo’s narrative is based on the construction of criminal and suspense plots wrapped in the local tradition of her homeland, Navarre. For example, in her novels , txantxigorri cakes always appear, a traditional Navarran dessert, and in The Invisible Guardian he based the plot on the existence of a mythological being from the Baztan Valley.
That novel, precisely, made it a bestseller in 2013 and motivated the homonymous movie in 2017, also a great success. Thanks to her novels, local traditions and the enigmatic beauty of this territory have been known abroad. 7. Matilde Asensi
Her career as a writer is very similar to that of Julia Navarro: she began her career as a journalist and, thanks to her love of reading, she developed her talent for narrative until she became one of the best writers current.
In fact, his true vocation had always been literature and, in 1991, he made a decision that has marked his life: believing that journalism took up too much of his time, he abandoned the profession to devote himself to writing . Since he published his first work, The Amber Room, in 1999, he has published one work a year on average and has won several awards.
His success came, above all, with the novel El ultimo caton, which in 2001 became a bestseller inside and outside of Spain. With The Lost Origin, in 2003, she was accused of plagiarism, which has not prevented her from continuing to publish successful novels and write in various media . 8. Espido Freire
In 1999, Espido Freire became theYoungest Spanish writer to win the Planeta Prize . It was with Frozen Peaches, a story of family secrets that demonstrated the narrative firmness of this novel writer. She has since published seven new novels, in addition to the two she already had published.
Among these works, the last one she published stands out, Call me Alejandra, with which she won the Azorin Prize. It has been translated into several languages that have made it known, also, abroad. So much so that in 1999 she received the French booksellers’ award for best foreign work for her novel Ireland.
Thanks to her fame and the consolidated position that she has achieved as a writer, Espido Freire has dedicated part of her career to training and literary patronage. In 2006he opened his own academy where he teaches literature workshops and which he called “E+F” (his initials). 9. Elvira Lindo
From a very young age, Elvira Lindo dedicated herself to narrative in the world of television and film, as an announcer, actress and screenwriter. During those years she played the boy Manolito Gafotas on the radio , a character around whom she wrote her first novel in the children’s genre. The success of her achievement in 1994 made her write nine books in the series.
She later created a similar series under the name Olivia, with that direct, fun, fresh and youthful style. In addition, Elvira Lindo has written five narrative novels for adults such as What I have left to live, and several film adaptations., among others from the novel by her husband Antonio Munoz Molina, Plenilunio.
Since 2000, Elvira Lindo has collaborated as a columnist in El Pais, where she has become known as an intellectual committed to leftist ideas . In 2018 she refused to be part of the socialist government of Pedro Sanchez.
The most prolific women writers in Spain and their works. | Image by: Annie Spratt / Unsplash. 10. Clara Sanchez
This graduate in Hispanic Philology has the honor of having done double , winning two of the most important prizes of letters: the Planet and the Nadal.
In fact, she has a long literary career that goes back to 1989, when she published Precious Stones. Nevertheless,Success came in 1993 with El Palacio Varado , a reading included in university literature programs, and she became a prolific national writer.
She has published 17 titles, among which what stands out is What Hides Your Name, Nadal Novel Award in 2010, and The Sky Has Returned, Planet Award in 2013. She is one of the readers’ favorite writers . 11. Carmen Posadas
Uruguayan by birth and nationalized Spanish, Carmen Posadas has a most interesting career: She was born in Montevideo, has lived in England and Russia, and already settled in Spain, has presented television programs and paraded as a model for Lucia Bose.
In his literary career he arouses interest with his first novels of children’s and youth literature, with which he won the Prize of the Ministry of Culture. His fame came to him from 1998, when he won the Planeta Prize with Little Infamies, a book that received excellent reviews in the New York Times and the Washington Post.
This international speaker makes his novels exported to more than forty countries , and his literary figure is consolidated by bringing to light dozens of titles. His latest novel has been published this same 2018: The puppet teacher.
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Current emerging Spanish writers
Along with consolidated names such as those we have seen, they stand out among the emerging Spanish authors with a bright future, and who have already achieved their first successes in such a complicated world. 12. Carme Chaparro
Carme Chaparro is a familiar face: she presented Telecinco’s news for many years. In addition, she has always been committed to causes such as feminism at the head of the Observatory against Domestic Violence. During all those years she also developed an unbridled passion for reading.
After years devouring books, Carme Chaparro surprised with a novel that raised the fervor of readers, I’m not a monster, which gave her the Spring Novel Award in 2017.The nerve and rhythm of this novel about the disappearance of a child in a shopping center at the hands of a predator established her as an emerging writer in the thriller.
In 2018, she released her second novel, La Quimica del Hate, with a highly original theme that makes Carme Chaparro one of the most daring writers on the literary scene. 13. Laura Tarraga
“If you’ve made it this far, I need to tell you this: I write like a madwoman, and I wake up before anyone else to do it”. This is how Laura Tarraga presents herself on her website, one of the best emerging Spanish writers who has self-published several works and, together with Ediciones Nocturna, has released the successful book El Imperio del Sueno.
In addition, he published the biology Infortunium with the books Guardiana de almas and Salvadora de almas, consolidating his style in fantasy youth novels. Laura Tarraga is another example of the vocational struggle to succeed in the world of letters , where it seems that women still do not have the facilities of men.
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14. Beatriz Esteban
At 21 years old, Beatriz Esteban is one of the literary sensations of the moment for having put all her heart and surprising literary self-confidence into an autobiographical novel about the anorexia she suffered at the age of 15. With Sere fragil, a hard story but free from cheap sentimentality, this new writer managed to be published by Planeta. This 2018 La Galera has published her second novel , Although it rains fire, where Beatriz Esteban dares with history taking a story of forgiveness and resilience to the France of the 50s.
This increasingly consolidated young talent combines the art of writing with the psychology degree, in addition to giving lectures on literature and his life experience. 15. Elvira Navarro
In recent years, Elvira Navarro, now 40, has been hailed as one of the most up-and-coming writers. In 2004 she won the Contest for Young Creators of the Community of Madrid, and between 2007 and 2014 she published three novels (The city in winter, The happy city and The worker) that captured the interest of readers.
Her most applauded work was Los ultimos dias de Adelaida Garcia Morales, winner of the Ciudad de Jaen Prize and the Tormenta Prize, and since then her novels have been published in English, French, Swedish, Italian, Turkish and Arabic .
However, this last work has also been the most controversial, due to the harsh criticism it received from Victor Erice (supported by Juan Marse) through his column in El Pais, considering that the writer had trivialized the figure of the writer Adelaida Garcia. Morales and opening a debate on the limits of fiction.
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