CASTELLO. This Friday a little piece of Paris will arrive in Castelló thanks to the former Minister of Culture, a very popular writer, journalist, and now also a bookseller, Maximo Huerta. It is not the first time that Utiel takes his readers to the French capital through his books, which are also in the booths of this 40th edition of the Fira del Llibre.
Paris woke up late (Planeta publishing house) is the title of the novel that has just been published and that tells a story that begins after a love breakup and that immerses us in the nooks and crannies of the complexities of friendship and love relationships. As the author himself explains, in the pages of this work that takes place in Paris in the 1920s “there is a lot of pain and a lot of joy.” In the work, Máximo Huerta reveals the lives of two very different women who intersect and form the axis of the novel while the reader witnesses how they suffer heartbreak together, leaning on each other in bad times. Literary criticism has not hesitated to point out that this latest installment by the Valencian writer is a song to life that pays tribute to true love and female friendship, all with protagonists who have the need to rediscover themselves and take control of their lives. .
To date, Huerta has published ten books, among which stands out The dreamed nightwhich received the Primavera de Novela award in 2014, and Bye little one, who obtained the Fernando Lara two years ago. He is also the author of a young adult novel, several stories and a travel book.
-He arrives at the book fair with a new novel. Does it bring a bit of Paris to the people of Castellón?
-The Paris of the 1920s should be contagious for today. We can all be inspired by those years of creativity, fun and hustle and bustle. It was an unusual, irreverent and brilliant decade. Who is bad for that? Hopefully the spirit of Paris in our days.
-What do you expect from your time at the Castelló fair?
-I have never been to the Castelló Book Fair and the last time I was was at an event with readers in front of the sea. I want my novel to be yours, that you embrace it, that you give it as a gift and that you fill it with notes. I am very excited to go to the fair.
-Do you think it is important to visit fairs that do not have the reputation of Madrid or Sant Jordi, as may be the case of Castelló?
-Book fairs are the continuation of novels. That’s where an author sees how he’s doing, what readers are breathing and what he likes. I learn a lot from the days dedicated to the book. Madrid or Barcelona are the most popular, but the readers are not only there. There are many of us far from the big cities.
-His love for literature is not only found in his books but in his commitment to opening a bookstore in Buñol. Is there any formula to give the push that the publishing market seems to need?
-Write bravely, publish bravely, edit bravely. A book that is not read is a forgotten book. I understand that reading should be a conversation, a book club, a fair and a celebration. The push comes from the children, dedicating a lot to the children’s sector. There are generations that have missed reading, let’s treat it as it deserves: a pleasure.
-When you started working in journalism, did you expect to have such a productive career as a writer?
-I signed up for journalism because I liked to write. And because I saw that the great names of literature had been journalists, from Larra to Delibes. All.
