Romancero Books and Peirene Press are proud to invite you to:
Author Manuel Astur and translator Claire Wadie discuss their book Of Saints and Miracles.
Talk in English with some Spanglish involved.
The book Of Saints and Miracles will be available for purchase at the end of the event. Copies can be bought at a discounted price with ticket.
Of Saints and Miracles
Marcelino lives alone on his parents’ farm, set deep in the beautiful but impoverished countryside of Asturias, northern Spain. It’s the place where he grew up, where he doted on his beloved baby brother, where he protected his mother from his father’s drunken rages. But when Marcelino’s brother tricks him out of his land and home, a moment of uncontrolled anger sparks a chain of events that can’t be reversed. Marcelino flees into the wild peaks, dense woods and abandoned villages that surround his home, becoming a cult hero as he evades the authorities.
Into this unconventional thriller, Astur weaves fables about the sun and the moon, tales of death and love, and reveals a community and a way of life that may soon be lost. Of Saints and Miracles is a sensuous and poetic portrayal of an outcast’s struggle to survive in a changing world, and a seamless blend of the tragic and the majestic.
Manuel Astur
Manuel Astur is a Spanish author selected as ‘One of the Ten Most Interesting New Voices in Europe’ by the European Union. He is the author of the poetry collection Y encima es mi cumpleaños (And It’s My Birthday On Top of Everything, 2013), the novel Quince días para acabar con el mundo (Fifteen Days to End the World, 2014) and the essay ‘Seré un anciano hermoso en un gran país’ (I’ll Be a Handsome Old Man in a Great Country, 2015). In 2016, he was selected by ABC daily as one of the six most outstanding fiction writers in Spanish. San, el libro de los milagros (Of Saints and Miracles) is his first work to be translated into English.
Claire Wadie
Claire Wadie has a Masters in Translation from the University of Bristol and won the Peirene Stevns Translation Prize for Of Saints and Miracles by Manuel Astur. She has taught French and Spanish in British secondary schools for many years.
Peirene Press
An award-winning independent publisher of new voices and great books from across the world.
Peirene Press was founded by novelist and journalist Meike Ziervogel, with the goal of bringing translated European novellas to a UK audience. Peirene began publishing in 2010 with Beside the Sea by Véronique Olmi, translated by Adriana Hunter. In the twelve years since this first (extraordinary) book, they have published over forty books, featuring translations from seventeen languages and twenty countries. Peirene titles have been listed for the International Booker Prize (previously the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize) seven times, and have been awarded numerous other accolades.
In 2021, Peirene changed ownership and is now run by Stella Sabin and James Tookey. In the Spring of 2022, they announced a new direction for Peirene, including the company’s re-location to Bath, a full re-brand by Glasgow-based Art Director Orlando Lloyd, and plans to publish a diverse range of books from beyond Europe. They are proud to take Peirene forward into a new and exciting chapter, building on the last ten years, whilst widening the scope of what Peirene can do.
Romancero Books
Romancero Books is an online bookstore based in London.
We sell literature from Spain and Latin America. Our aim is to bring you the latest fiction, poetry, essays and graphic novels, with a special focus on literature written by women.
Working with selected large and small publishers from Spain and Latin America, we bring together a remarkable collection of books, including short stories and pocket books. Our catalogue covers themes such as Lorca, female writers from Generación del 27, writers in exile and diaspora, and new LGBTQ+ voices.
Book launch organised with the support of Instituto Cervantes Londres.