On September 11th is the author Javier Marias died shortly before his 71st birthday. Javier Marías was considered one of the most important contemporary writers in Spain, whose name was regularly mentioned for the Nobel Prize. On October 12, his novel “Tomás Nevinson” will be published by S. Fischer Verlag, which follows “Berta Isla” (2019).
“With the death of Javier Marías, winner of the Austrian State Prize for European Literature, we have not only lost one of the most important contemporary Spanish authors, but also a great writer of European stature. His introspective novels about love and the complexity of human relationships found readers across all national borders. His many comments and essays on current and political events also testify to his critical spirit. With his work, he is forever inscribed in European literary history. His strong voice for freedom and democracy will be missed.” Secretary of State for Art and Culture Andrea Mayer.
When Mein Herz soweiß was published in German in 1996 and Marcel Reich-Ranicki enthusiastically praised the novel and its author, the novel became a phenomenal success with the public. Javier Marías joined S. Fischer in 2012 with the novel Die mortlich Verliebten.
Marías’ extensive work has received numerous awards, including the Nelly Sachs Prize and the Austrian State Prize for European Literature. His books have been read in many countries and translated into over forty languages.
Javier Marías has restored contemporary Spanish literature and its novels to the world. In his novels he manages the feat of combining the politically confused time after Franco, the continued existence of the suffocating social atmosphere of betrayal and lies, with a ruthless analysis of private feelings and their errors and passions.
14.9.2022