Perspectives that transform genres: Rosa Montero, Virginia Feito and J. J. Muñoz-Rengel
Fantasy genres are costumes authors put on to tell a story. But some writers don’t limit themselves to using pre-designed fabrics and patterns; they alter them to create their own costume, completely different to anything worn previously. Rosa Montero, Virginia Feito and J. J. Muñoz-Rengel are experienced in this practice, which has proven to be a breath of fresh air for veteran readers. Montero’s recent Animales difíciles (Seix Barral) concludes her Bruna Husky saga, which has proven that a cyberpunk–detective novel hybrid can challenge readers on issues such as death, the meaning of life and the fate of humanity. Feito, following her bestseller Mrs March, has dared to rethink the Victorian novel with Victorian Psycho (Lumen in Spanish, La Campana in Catalan), turning it into a macabre, disturbing setting. Then there’s Muñoz-Rengel, whose La transmigración (AdN) uses the premise of body swapping to reflect on identity, illness and human fragility in a context of collapse. The round-table discussion will be moderated by Susana Vallejo, a writer and assistant curator of the 42 Festival.
