The writer from Vigo José Ángel Gómez Iglesias was one of the authors participating in the IV edition of the Libri Book Fair, which was held between June 7 and 9. He signs his works as Offreds, a pseudonym that he created by chance when opening his first accounts on social networks, and it is that name that also appears on the plaque that they placed to name a street of Books, thus continuing with the tradition of rename the roads with the names of the writers who take part in the festival.
-He started writing on networks, the opposite process to what writers usually do.
-I opened social networks when they were not so powerful and I started sharing what I wrote there, because I have been writing since I was little. One day I got the opportunity from a small publisher to publish my first book, which caught me by surprise. And that word of mouth as a result of the book made me reach many people and my networks began to grow. From there the books, tours, signings and more began, a journey of almost ten years. People often think that networking helped my book, but I would say it was the other way around.
-How would you define your books, because they are not novels, right?
-No, at the moment I don’t have any novels, although I do have a project in mind. There are twelve small books of narrative stories, some people call it poetry, others don’t. For me they are small stories a little about my life, about everything I have seen around me these years and they touch a little on all the topics, love, heartbreak, friendship, well, mental health and illness.
-Are they aimed at a young audience?
-When I started yes, because I was younger and those who followed me were between 16 and 25 years old, but time has passed and my readers have grown with me, they are now between 25 and 40 years old, others have stayed in the path. Now I pick up my first book and it has nothing to do with the last one, they are very separated in time and in the things that happened to me, although there are people who have followed me since then and even their daughters, because women read more, they also read me they read. But my books are like love, they are ageless, and at any moment in your life it can happen to you.
-What do you think of the initiative developed in the town of Libros?
-Everything that is being done in this town seems incredible to me, it seems super beautiful to me. It seems to me a unique opportunity to take advantage not only of the name of the town, but to give background to everything, to turn it into a town that is the hallmark of literature, that a lot of writers can pass through here, that people can live the culture and literature and those who visit the town have activities to savor what literature and the experience of being here are.
-What did you feel when you discovered the street sign with your name?
-Brutal, you tell the Jose of his childhood that he was going to have a street, not a book, and he doesn’t believe it. He has been very exciting, I did not expect it and even less knowing the great names of writers that there are on the streets of Books. This visit will stay with me forever and I will return one day with my daughter to see it.
-Have you always wanted to be a writer?
-Well no, but not because I didn’t like it or because I didn’t dream of it, but because it is something that I didn’t see within my reach. I have many memories of myself as a child, always being in my room or in the park reading. And well, it’s not that it was a dream either, because I saw it as impossible, but everything that I have experienced these years is a dream and I have enjoyed it a lot, to be honest.
-What are you working on now?
-I am preparing book number 13, I already signed it a few weeks ago and I started writing stories for it. I already have the title, which I can’t say. I also have a project for a children’s story, which I have almost finished and it is something that would make me very excited, especially so that my daughter will have it as a souvenir.
-When will the jump to the novel be?
-Yes, I have some idea in mind and maybe the time will come to take that different leap without losing what I already have, but I think it entails a lot of work, a lot of responsibility and with what I am doing I feel comfortable, so much so that I can’t find the moment to jump. Yes, I would like to do it, plus maybe it will give me the opportunity to reach another audience, we will see what happens in these years.
