Convergencias literarias: género, narrativa y fandom en la literatura española contemporánea | Literary convergences: Gender, genre and fandom in contemporary Spanish literature

Centre for the Study of Contemporary Women's Writing

Conversations with authors (ES)

Speakers: 
 

Cristina Jurado (writer)
Elia Barceló (writer)

Cristina Jurado (writer)
Cristina Jurado (Madrid, 1972) is a SF author and editor who lives in Dubai. In 2019 she became the first female author to win the Best Novel Ignotus Award (Spain’s Hugo) for ‘Bionautas’. In 2015, she co-founded ‘Supersonic Magazine’, focused on SFF literature. Together with Leticia Lara, she co-edited the anthology ‘Alucinadas’ (2015), the first sf anthology of Spanish-speaking women. Her recent fiction in English includes her collection ‘Alphaland & Other Tales’ (Calque) and many stories in various venues, such as Strange Horizons, Clarkesworld, Apex magazine, and The Best of World SF by Head of Zeus. Her latest weird ecohorror novella ‘ChloroPhilia’ (2025, trans. Sue Burke) just came out with Apex Publishing.

Elia Barceló (writer)
Elia Barceló (Elda, 1957) is one of the most prolific Spanish SFF authors. Part of the so called ‘Generación HispaCón’, credited with bringing new approaches to Spanish SF in the 1990s, she has a PhD in Hispanic Literature and has published extensive fiction, finding success in different literary realms. Her list of accolades include the UPC Award with ‘El mundo de Yarek’ (1994), being the first and only Spanish woman author to ever win it, the EDEBÉ Award for ‘El caso del artista cruel’ (1998), or the National Award for Children and Young Adult’s Literature for ‘El efecto Frankenstein’ (2020). Her work has been translated into more than 20 languages, including English. Her novella ‘The Goldmisth’s Secret’ (2011, trans. David Frye) was recently adapted into a movie. 

All are welcome to attend this online seminar being held via Zoom at 5PM BST (UK time). Please register in advance by clicking Book Now at the top of this page and you'll be sent the zoom link. 

The programme for the seminar series is at the bottom of the page.

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Esta serie de seminarios en línea explora la producción de autoras dentro del ámbito de la ciencia ficción y la fantasía (CFF) en España, incluyendo la organización de sus fans. En la última década, los aficionados españoles a la CFF han sido testigos del desarrollo de iniciativas organizadas por mujeres, cuyo principal objetivo ha sido promover y visibilizar las contribuciones de autoras a la CFF. Ejemplos de esto incluyen Alucinadas (una serie de antologías de ciencia ficción solo para mujeres), Terroríficas (una serie de antologías de terror solo para mujeres), el Premio Ripley (premio de ciencia ficción solo para mujeres), Distópicas y Poshumanas (una antología histórica de ciencia ficción escrita por mujeres), o La nave invisible (una web que muestra trabajos de CFF escritos por autoras), entre otros. Paralelamente, varias editoriales independientes (que constituyen gran parte del mercado de este género en España) como Crononauta, Cerbero, Sportula u Obscura empezaron a enfocarse más en el trabajo de mujeres, algunas de ellas nacidas con principios feministas y lideradas por editoras mujeres.

Aunque ya se ha hecho un buen trabajo académico centrado en la CFF española desde una perspectiva de género, creemos que aún hay mucho espacio para la discusión en este campo, especialmente considerando el rol del género en los espacios de fan y de negocio. Buscamos convergencias entre diferentes personas involucradas en la cadena de vida de narrativa de CFF —escritoras, editoras, lectoras, académicas— para discutir el papel transversal del género en la CFF contemporánea en España, su pasado reciente, su presente y su futuro.

Para ello, pretendemos mostrar perspectivas críticas sobre el trabajo de la CFF española escrita por mujeres, entendiendo cómo las mujeres españolas han respondido a cuestiones locales y globales. Además, planeamos hablar con editoras, traductoras y autoras, discutiendo la presencia del feminismo en el fandom contemporáneo de la CFF en España. Finalmente, queremos destacar el trabajo de fans, lectores, organizaciones sin fines de lucro e investigadoras independientes en la CFF española, discutiendo su papel en la escritura de mujeres, la escritora como fan y el feminismo dentro del fandom. Esperamos que sus experiencias prácticas, en convergencia con los trabajos académicos, abran nuevas perspectivas para entender las condiciones de la CFF escrita por mujeres en España, ofreciendo una visión más holística del género y la literatura no mimética en el país.

Mayo - Junio 2025

Lunes 5 PM (UCT+1)

Organizado por Fernando Castellano-Bañuls (University of Glasgow / Prifysgol Aberystwyth) and Dr María Dolores Muñoz (Universidad de Alcalá)

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This online seminar series explores the production of women authors within the realm of Science Fiction and Fantasy (SFF) in Spain, including the organization of fans. In the last decade, Spanish SFF aficionados have seen the development of women-organised initiatives whose main objective was to promote and make visible the contributions of women authors to SFF. Examples of this include Alucinadas (a series of women-only SF anthologies), Terroríficas (a series of women-only horror anthologies), the Ripley Award (women-only SF Award), Distópicas y Poshumanas (a historical anthology of women-authored SF), or La nave invisible (a website that showcases SFF work written by women authors), among others. Alongside this, several independent publishers (who arguably constitute most of the genre in the Spanish publication market) like Crononauta, Cerbero, Sportula, or Obscura started to focus more on women's work, some of them being born with feminist principles in mind and led by women editors. 

Although good academic work has been done focusing on Spanish SFF from a gender perspective we believe there is still plenty of space for discussion in the area, especially contemplating the role of gender in fan and business spaces. We are seeking convergences between different people involved in the life-chain of SFF narrative –writers, publishers, readers, scholars– to discuss the transversal role of gender in contemporary Spanish SFF, its recent past, its present and its future. 

For that, we aim to showcase critical perspectives on the work of women-authored Spanish non-mimetic literature, understanding how women authors have made use of genre to tackle global and local issues. Additionally, we plan to talk to active publishers, translators and authors, discussing the placement of feminism in contemporary Spanish SFF fandom and literature. Finally, we aim to showcase the work of fans, readers, nonprofits and independent researchers in Spanish SFF, discussing their role in SFF women’s writing, the writer as a fan, and feminism within fandom. We hope that their hands-on experiences, in convergence with the works of scholars, will open new perspectives in understanding the conditions of women-authored SFF in Spain, offering a more holistic view of gender and non-mimetic literature in the country. 

Convened by Fernando Castellano-Banuls (University of Glasgow / Prifysgol Aberystwyth) and Dr. María Dolores Muñoz Molina (University of Alcalá) 

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PROGRAMME

20 May
Critical Perspectives (ES/EN)
Teresa López-Pellisa (Universidad de Alcalá) ‘Metis liberada: autoras de ciencia ficción en el ámbito hispánico’
Isabel Clúa (Universidad de Sevilla) ‘Olar, Idhún, Terralinde…: rutas por la fantasía española de autoría femenina’

2 June
Critical Perspectives (ES/EN)
Manuel Santana (University of Salamanca) ‘El género en el género: una lectura feminista de La compañía amable, de Rocío Vega’
Diana Q. Palardy (Independent) ‘Utopianism in the Pursuit of Menstrual Justice: Unveiling Feminist Discourses in “Amaiur” by Aixa de la Cruz’
Iris de Benito (University of Valencia), ‘Brujas del Pirineo y terror rural. La obra de Irene Solà a la luz de la Relectura Feminista de la Caza de Brujas (RFCB)’

9 June
Género en la industria (ES)
Carla Bataller Estruch (Translator and independent publisher)
Israel Alonso (Independent publisher)
Cristina Macía (Translator, writer and organiser of the Celsius 232 festival)
Clara Dies Valls (Artist, writer and independent publisher)

16 June
Escritoras, lectoras, fans (ES)
Laura Huelin (La nave invisible)
Blanca Rodríguez (President of Pórtico)
Eleazar Herrera (writer and podcaster)
Lola Robles (writer and independent researcher)

23 June
Conversations with authors (ES)
Cristina Jurado (writer)
Elia Barceló (writer)

Image credit: with thanks for the creation and donation of the image by Clara Dies Valls