Xàbia Negra: a weekend full of mystery and suspense
There will be meetings with authors, literary vermouths, guided tours, workshops, a short film competition, activities with educational centres, reading clubs and a battle of writers
Over the weekend Friday 29th November to Sunday 1st December, the XÀBIA NEGRA literary festival will be celebrating its seventh edition, a unique event where lovers of the crime genre will be able to enjoy a weekend dedicated to crime novels in the presence of some of the most prominent figures of this genre in Spain.
The festival promises surprises and novelties that will keep attendees on the edge of their seats. Among this year’s featured activities, Xàbia Negra will offer the traditional ‘Battle of Writers’, a creative duel in which authors will face their talent in real time. In addition, the ‘La Criminala’ Award will be presented.
Carme Chaparro, Premio La Criminala
The popular writer and television journalist Carme Chaparro heads the list of guests at this seventh edition of Xàbia Negra and will receive the La Criminala award for her proven career as one of the queens of national thrillers.
For the last 25 years, Carme Chaparro has been at the forefront of the main news editions of the Mediaset group. She has also been part of the documentary series ‘Mujeres Al Poder‘ on Telecinco on Cuatro, ‘Todo Es Mentira‘ and ‘En El Punto de Mira‘, also on Cuatro. She currently presents the morning news programmes on Telecinco. Winner of the 2017 Primavera Novel Award for ‘No Soy Un Monstruo’, Carme has published the Ana Arén trilogy (‘No Soy Un Monstruo’, ‘Laquímica del Odio’ and ‘No Decepciones a tu Padre’), the novels ‘Delito’ and ‘Castigo’, the essay ‘Calladita Estás Más Guapa’ and the children’s book ‘¿Conoces a mi Lágrima?’.
Firmly committed to the defence of human rights, and a militant against any form of violence towards the most vulnerable people, in 2018 she received recognition for her career from the Observatory against Domestic and Gender Violence of the General Council of the Judiciary. She is also a patron of the National Library of Spain.
Jerónimo Tristante and Blas Ruiz Grau build novel monsters
Black literature that delves into the black darkness of our souls will also have a place in the festival programme. Specifically, the talk ‘Monstruos de Novela’ will feature the participation of Jerónimo Tristante and Blas Ruiz Grau, authors who have successfully been face to face with the worst version that we can show. Tristante has used more the look at the time of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries with the series ‘Víctor Ros’ while Ruiz Grau has shown himself to be decidedly more contemporary but equally implacable. In addition, he is currently reaping success with his podcast ‘Crimen y Carrillo’.
The great experts in true crime, in Xàbia Negra
The best experts in true crime will once again be present at the seventh edition of Xàbia Negra on Saturday 30th. On the one hand we will have Vicente Garrido, an international eminence of the criminal mind, who has just launched his latest book on those psychopaths who do not kill and are among us: ‘El Psicópata Integrado’. In addition, one of the great guests of the festival is Carlos Quílez, who currently presents the programme #Caso on La Sexta where he analyzes some of the most fascinating real cases of recent times. Together with the great writer Pere Cervantes, who is presenting his new novel ‘Me Olvidé del Cielo’, they will review how writers draw on the reality that matters most to us to give free rein to their fictions.
Materials for a good crime novel
On Friday 29th we will also have the meeting of Xavier Aliaga and Josep Vicent Miralles, whose novels ‘Això no es un Western’ and ‘Estiu’ show us some of their keys to writing novels, such as the integrity of fiction as a place from which we can illuminate the darkest places of reality.
Battle of writers, reading clubs, guided tours and express short films
In addition, the festival offers other activities: on the morning of Saturday 30th there will be a guided tour near the port that celebrates a crime that touched the life of the painter Joaquín Sorolla in Xàbia. That same morning and in the Library of the Port, les Duanes, the author Anna Moner guts -never better said- the writing of a risky and fascinating novel, such as ‘La Por de la Bèstia’, in the talk ‘Les Entrayes de la Bèstia’, as a good documentary support that will make us understand the mechanisms of fiction. We will also be able to delve into the fascinating world of the beginnings of film noir, which has left so many images in our imagination, and which will have its space on the afternoon of Friday 29th at the Municipal Library in the Centre. Saturday morning does not end here, since at the Sotavent restaurant, we will enjoy the literary vermouth, a relaxed activity where the guests of the festival tell incredible anecdotes that are not usually heard at literary events. There will also be space for theatre that afternoon, with the actress Imma Sancho, on stage, who will embody in the session Characters outside the pages, the protagonists of a novel.
As a culmination of the festival, on Sunday morning, four authors will participate in the battle of writers, during which they will have to write a story with different ingredients in just four minutes, which will then be voted on by the public. The programme will close with the award ceremony of the express short film competition, organised by the Escola de Cinema Riurau.
The councillor responsible for Culture of Xàbia, Mavi Pérez (CPJ), has expressed her satisfaction with the multidisciplinary nature of the Xàbia Negra festival. “It is a pride to have an event that not only brings culture to every corner of our municipality, but also includes outdoor activities and proposals specially designed for young people, thus encouraging the participation of all audiences”.
Pérez congratulated Carme Chaparro for having been recognised with the La Criminala award, highlighting “her brilliant contribution to the crime genre”. In addition, she wanted to thank the commitment of the Amundsen company and all the authors participating in this edition of the festival: “Thanks to their effort and creativity, Xàbia Negra continues to grow and consolidate itself as an essential event in our cultural agenda. This festival is an example of how culture can unite us, inspire us and make us enjoy ourselves together”.
The director of Xàbia Negra, Santiago Álvarez, stressed that “after the success of the last three years, which has also been a constant growth, we hope that this programme, which is already a classic in the town, continues to attract the public in its various forms. In Xàbia, it is about uniting fascination and quality leisure”. Álvarez also thanked the municipal government team for “its determined commitment to culture”.
All the programming can be viewed online at www.xabianegra.com.
