Individual residencies / Olot
JORDI SEBASTIÀ
From Tuesday, 24 October 2023 to Tuesday, 31 October 2023
Bio
Jordi Sebastià was born in 1966 in Burjassot. He has a degree in philosophy and Hispanic and Portuguese philology. He has a Master's degree in the sciences of religions and secularism. He has worked as a journalist, for ten years he was a professor of journalism at the University of Valencia, and has held several political positions: mayor of his town and MEP. He has published a novel, Un assumpte de periféría, short stories, Pitfalls and essays, The cosmopolitan trap and Quadern de l'Europa trista. She has also published journalistic books with social themes, such as Dignity and the Hoe, about war-torn African women, and Tears of Cotton, Dust and Silence about women with leprosy in India. He has translated the Portuguese poets, Eugénio de Andrade and Sophia de Mello, and has written screenplays and directed short films and documentaries.
Project
The Watcher This is a novel that I already have advanced, with the script of the different chapters and the definition of the characters well established. It is a demanding work from the formal point of view, which takes the structure of a cinematographic pseudo-script, and thematically, since it mixes ethnobotany with key moments of the turbulent European history of the 20th century. The story unfolds in various scenarios in the Valencian Country, takes as its basis real stories and deals with issues such as traumatic decolonization -with the OAS terrorists taking refuge in the lands of Alicante-, totalitarian movements -with the presence in these lands of fugitives from the Nazi regime - or the Balkan wars. The intention is to be able to have time to concentrate on the project and continue to progress in the writing.
The perfect place to unlock your productivity.
I heard about the Faberllull residency in Olot from a news article. It immediately struck me that it would be a great opportunity for a writer like myself, who is often distracted by the worries of everyday life. When I'm working on a novel, I always reach a point when I feel that what I've written so far doesn't make sense or isn't very good and that it would be better to just throw in the towel. This is also when the dreaded writer's block sets in and I scramble for any excuse to put my pen down. It was in the midst of this struggle that I came to the right place to overcome that block, focus and return to the writing process with renewed energy. My experience at the Faberllull residency in Olot was astonishing. The manager, Pepa, treated us exquisitely, the service at the hotel was perfect and the other residents were so encouraging. The town of Olot offered wonderful cultural options, the surrounding countryside was beginning to show its autumn colours and I was able to write contentedly at my desk... What more could you ask for?