Carlos Ruiz Zafón

Carlos Ruiz Zafón
Carlos Ruiz Zafón in 2008
Born Carlos Ruiz Zafón
(1964-09-25) 25 September 1964
Barcelona, Spain
Occupation Writer
Language Spanish
Period 1994–present

Carlos Ruiz Zafón (Spanish pronunciation: ['kaɾlos 'rwiθ θa'fon]; born 25 September 1964) is a Spanish novelist.

Biography

Ruiz Zafón was born in the city of Barcelona. Growing up in Spain, he began his work life by making money in advertising. His grandparents had worked in a factory and his father sold insurance.[1] In the 1990s Ruiz Zafón moved to Los Angeles where he worked briefly in screen writing. Catalan by birth and also fluent in English, he writes and publishes his novels in Spanish. This not only enables a larger readership, via readers in Spain and South America, but also allows his novels to speak more widely for the country of Spain, in a way that novels written in Catalan or English would not.[2]

Literary Career

Ruiz Zafón's first novel, El Príncipe de la Niebla (The Prince of Mist, 1993), earned the Edebé literary prize for young adult fiction. He is also the author of three additional young adult novels, El palacio de la medianoche (1994), Las luces de septiembre (1995) and Marina (1999). The English version of El Príncipe de la Niebla was published in 2010.

In 2001 he published his first adult novel La sombra del viento (The Shadow of the Wind), a Gothic mystery that involves Daniel Sempere's quest to track down the man responsible for destroying every book written by author Julian Carax. The novel has sold millions of copies worldwide and more than a million copies in the UK alone. Since its publication, La sombra del viento has garnered critical acclaim around the world and has won many international awards.

Ruiz Zafón's next novel, El juego del ángel, was published in April 2008. The English edition, The Angel's Game, is translated by Lucia Graves, daughter of the poet Robert Graves. It is a prequel to The Shadow of the Wind, also set in Barcelona, but during the 1920s and 1930s. It follows (and is narrated by) David Martin, a young writer who is approached by a mysterious figure to write a book. Ruiz Zafón intends it to be included in a four book series along with The Shadow of the Wind.[3]

The next book in the cycle, El prisionero del cielo, appeared in 2011, which returns to The Shadow of the Wind's Daniel Sempere and his travel back to the 1940s to resolve a buried secret. The novel was published in English in July 2012 as The Prisoner of Heaven.[4]

The Labyrinth of Spirits (original title: El laberinto de los espíritus) is the fourth and final book in the Cemetery of Forgotten Books series. The novel was initially released on 17 November 2016 in Spain and Latin America by Spanish publisher Planeta. HarperCollins published the English translation by Lucia Graves, which was released on September 18, 2018.

Carlos Ruiz Zafón's works have been published in 45 countries and have been translated into more than 40 different languages.[5] According to these figures, Ruiz Zafón is the most widely published contemporary Spanish writer, followed by Javier Sierra, whose works have been published in 42 countries, and Juan Gómez-Jurado, whose works have been published in 41 countries.

Bibliography

Young adult

  • El Príncipe de la Niebla (1993), republished as The Prince of Mist (2010)
  • El palacio de la medianoche (1994), republished as The Midnight Palace (2011)
  • Las luces de septiembre (1995), republished as The Watcher in the Shadows (2013)[6]
  • Marina (1999), republished as Marina (2013)

Novels

El cementerio de los libros olvidados series (The Cemetery of Forgotten Books)[7]

Carlos Ruiz Zafón talks about The Angel's Game on Bookbits radio.

Short stories

  • Rosa de fuego, 2012 (The Rose of Fire)
  • Two-Minute Apocalypse, (2015)[8]

Influences

Influences on Ruiz Zafón's work have included 19th century classics, crime fiction,[9] noir authors and contemporary writers.

Apart from books, another large influence comes in the form of films and screenwriting. He says in interviews that he finds it easier to visualize scenes in his books in a cinematic way, which lends itself to the lush worlds and curious characters he creates.[3]

References

  1. ↑ Manuel Roig-Franzia October 14, 2016 The bestselling literary sensation you may struggle to name. The Washington Post.
  2. ↑ Sara J. Brenneis, 2008. Dictatorship Noir: post-war Spanish history in Carlos Ruiz Zafón’s La sombra del viento. Romance Studies 26 (1): 61-73.
  3. 1 2 Porter, Steve. "Books hold no passports – Carlos Ruiz Zafon talks to Three Monkeys Online". TMO Magazine.
  4. ↑ "The Prisoner of Heaven (El cementerio de los libros olvidados #3)". goodreads.com. Retrieved 2012-06-05.
  5. ↑ "about the author" in The Prisoner of Heaven, Orion edition (2012)
  6. ↑ London: Orion. ISBN 978-1-4440-0165-5
  7. ↑ GoodReads.com 2016-02-25
  8. ↑ "Carlos Ruiz Zafón". Author Series. Archived from the original on 9 July 2015. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
  9. ↑ Infloox Inc. "Crime fiction → Carlos Ruiz Zafón – infloox". infloox.com. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
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