Javier Marías *IX 20 1951 – La Vida Que Das / The Life You Give

Escritor, ensayista, traductor y editor español, Javier Marías (1951-2022) era el cuarto de cinco hijos de una familia acomodada. Pasó su niñez e infancia en los Estados Unidos, donde su padre, el filósofo y miembro de la R.A.E. Julián Marías, encarcelado y represaliado por el régimen de Franco, era profesor de universidad. Allí vivió rodeado de escritores y poetas como Vladimir Nabokov o Jorge Guillén. A su regreso a España, Marías estudió en el Colegio Estudio, y se licenció en Filosofía y Letras en la Universidad Complutense de Madrid, especializándose en Filología Inglesa. En 1968 se le publicó en el diario El Noticiero Universal de Barcelona su primer cuento, que escribió con tan solo quince años. Tras pasar un año en París, publicó su primera novela, Los dominios del lobo (1971), y más tarde vivió en Barcelona trabajando como asesor literario de la editorial Alfaguara, al tiempo de publicar relatos en el Diario de Barcelona. En 1983, Marías comenzó a dar clases de Literatura Española en la Facultad de Lenguas Modernas y Medievales de la Universidad de Oxford, donde continuó tras un paréntesis como profesor en el Wellesley College de Boston. De vuelta a Madrid, fue profesor de Teoría de la Traducción en la Universidad Complutense, todo ello continuando con su actividad de creación literaria y su trabajo como traductor. A partir de 1994 colaboró habitualmente en el Suplemento Semanal de El País mientras seguía publicando sus novelas. En 2002 publicó la que sería su obra más ambiciosa, Tu rostro mañana, dividida en tres tomos debido a que su extensión era mayor a las 1500 páginas (Fiebre y lanza, 2002, Baile y sueño, 2004, y Veneno y sombra y adiós, 2007). En 2006 se convirtió en miembro de la Real Academia Española de la Lengua, donde ocupó el sillón “R”, y en 2021 fue elegido miembro de la Royal Society of Literature. En el año 2011 publicó su novela Los enamoramientos, de género detectivesco pero con cuestiones filosóficas y éticas, siendo la primera novela del autor con un personaje femenino como narrador. Consiguió un gran éxito a nivel mundial y fue traducida a más de 18 idiomas. De entre su obra habría que destacar títulos como Mañana en la batalla piensa en mí, Corazón tan blanco, Fiebre y lanza, Baile y sueño o Así empieza lo malo. Además, Marías desarrolló una interesante labor editorial al frente de Reino de Redonda. A lo largo de su trayectoria obtuvo importantes premios entre los que se encuentran el Nacional de Traducción en 1979, el Herralde de 1986, el de la Crítica en 1993, el Rómulo Gallegos de 1994 o el Fastenrath en 1995. En el año 2012 rechazó el Nacional de Narrativa de España, que le había sido otorgado por su novela Los enamoramientos. Fuente: Lecturalia

Javier Marías, born September 20 1951, in Madrid, is the writer known for his novels, essays, and also known as translator and columnist. Life and work Javier Marías was born in Madrid. His father was the philosopher Julián Marías, who was briefly imprisoned and then banned from teaching for opposing Franco (the father of the protagonist of “Your Face Tomorrow” was given a similar biography). Parts of his childhood were spent in the United States, where his father spent time teaching at various institutions, including Yale University and Wellesley College. His mother died when Javier was 26 years old. Marías’s first literary employment consisted in translating Dracula scripts for his maternal uncle, Jesús Franco. He was educated at the “Colegio Estudio” in Madrid. Marías wrote his first novel, “Los dominios del lobo” (“The Dominions of the Wolf”), at the age of 17, after running away to Paris. His second novel, “Travesía del horizonte” (“Voyage Along the Horizon”), was an adventure story about an expedition to Antarctica. After attending the Complutense University of Madrid, Marías turned his attention to translating English novels into Spanish. His translations include work by Updike, Hardy, Conrad, Nabokov, Faulkner, Kipling, James, Stevenson, Browne, and Shakespeare. In 1979 he won the Spanish national award for translation for his version of Sterne’s “Tristram Shandy”. Between 1983 and 1985 he lectured in Spanish literature and translation at the University of Oxford. In 1986 Marías published “El hombre sentimental” (“The Man of Feeling”), and in 1988 published “Todas las almas” (“All Souls”), which was set at Oxford University. In 1996; the Spanish film director Gracia Querejeta released “El Último viaje de Robert Rylands”, adapted from “Todas las almas”. His 1992 novel “Corazón tan blanco” was a great commercial and critical success and for its English version “A Heart So White”, translated by Margaret Jull Costa, Marías and Costa were joint winners of the 1997 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. The protagonists of the novels written since 1986 are all interpreters or translators of one kind or another. Of these protagonists, Marías has written, “They are people who are renouncing their own voices.” In 2002 Marías published “Tu rostro mañana 1. Fiebre y lanza” (“Your Face Tomorrow 1: Fever and Spear”), the first part of a trilogy which forms his most ambitious literary project. The second volume, “Tu rostro mañana 2. Baile y sueño” (“Your Face Tomorrow 2: Dance and Dream”), was published in 2004. On May 25, 2007, Marías announced the completion of the final instalment, entitled “Tu rostro mañana 3. Veneno y sombra y adiós”. It was released on September 24, 2007. Redonda Marías’s novel, “Todas las almas” (“All Souls”), included a portrayal of the poet John Gawsworth, who was also the third King of Redonda. Although the fate of this monarchy after the death of Gawsworth is contested, the portrayal by Marías so touched the “reigning” king, Jon Wynne-Tyson, that he abdicated and left the throne to Marías in 1997. This course of events was chronicled in his “false novel,” “Dark Back of Time”. The book was inspired by the reception of “Todas las almas” by many people who, falsely according to Marías, believed they were the source of the characters in “Todas las almas”. Since “taking the throne” of Redonda, Marías has begun a publishing imprint named “Reino de Redonda” (“Kingdom of Redonda”). Marías has conferred titles during his reign, including upon Pedro Almodóvar (Duke of Trémula), António Lobo Antunes (Duke of Cocodrilos), John Ashbery (Duke of Convexo), Pierre Bourdieu (Duke of Desarraigo), William Boyd (Duke of Brazzaville), (Duke of Miranda), A. S. Byatt (Duchess of Morpho Eugenia), Guillermo Cabrera Infante (Duke of Tigres), Pietro Citati (Duke of Remonstranza), Francis Ford Coppola (Duke of Megalópolis), Agustín Díaz Yanes (Duke of Michelín), Roger Dobson (Duke of Bridaespuela), Frank Gehry (Duke of Nervión), Francis Haskell (Duke of Sommariva), Eduardo Mendoza (Duke of Isla Larga), Ian Michael (Duke of Bernal), Arturo Pérez-Reverte (Duke of Corso), (Duke of Parezzo), Sir Peter Russell (Duke of Plazatoro), Fernando Savater (Duke of Caronte), W. G. Sebald (Duke of Vértigo), (Duke of Malmundo), and upon Juan Villoro (Duke of Nochevieja). In addition, Marías created a literary prize, to be judged by the dukes and duchesses. In addition to prize money, the winner receives a duchy. Winners: 2001 John Maxwell Coetzee (Duke of Deshonra); 2002 John H. Elliott (Duke of Simancas); 2003 Claudio Magris (Duke of Segunda Mano); 2004 Eric Rohmer (Duke of Olalla); 2005 Alice Munro (Duchess of Ontario); 2006 Ray Bradbury (Duke of Diente de León); 2007 George Steiner (Duke of Girona). Other activities Marías operates a small publishing house under the name of “Reino de Redonda”. He also writes a weekly column in “El País”. An English version of his column “La Zona Fantasma” is included in the monthly magazine “The Believer”. Marías was elected to seat R of the Real Academia Española (Royal Spanish Academy) in 2006. At his investiture in 2008 he agreed with Robert Louis Stevenson that the work of novelists is “pretty childish,” but also argued that it is impossible to narrate real events, and that “you can only fully tell stories about what has never happened, the invented and imagined.” Bibliography (Spanish titles) *”Los dominios del lobo” (1971) *”Travesía del horizonte” (“Voyage Along the Horizon”, 1972) *”El monarca del tiempo” (1978) *”El siglo” (1982) *”El hombre sentimental” (“The Man of Feeling”, 1986) *”Todas las almas” (“All Souls”, 1989) *”Corazón tan blanco” (“A Heart So White”, 1992) *”Vidas escritas” (“Written Lives”, 1992) *”Mañana en la batalla piensa en mí” (“Tomorrow in the Battle Think On Me”, 1994) *”Cuando fui mortal” (“When I Was Mortal” 1996) *”Negra espalda del tiempo” (“Dark Back of Time”, 1998) *”Tu rostro mañana 1. Fiebre y lanza” (“Your Face Tomorrow 1: Fever and Spear”, 2002) *”Tu rostro mañana 2. Baile y sueño” (“Your Face Tomorrow 2: Dance and Dream”, 2004) *”Tu rostro mañana 3. Veneno y sombra y adiós” (2007) Source: Academic Dictionaries and Encyclopedias