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Freixas, Laura
2 articles of this author have been cited in the European Press Review so far.
Do high sales figures mean better literature?
A Spanish talk show recently featured a discussion between a bestselling author and a worstselling author – in other words an author whose books have barely sold. Laura Freixas complains in the daily La Vanguardia that too often quality is only judged on the basis of sales figures: "[TV presenter Andreu] Buenafuente came up with the Machiavellian idea of inviting [best-selling author Ildefonso Falcones] to appear on his show alongside a writer called Carlos Jiménez Arribas, whose book 'Journey into the Eye of a Horse' has only sold 112 copies. 'Let's see if some of [the success] rubs off', said Buenafuente jokingly in the assumption that it was Falcones who would be teaching Arribas a few things about writing books. Could it not be that the latter's is the better book from a literary point of view? Or is it not even worth an opinion or even reading it because all that matters are the sales figures? It was all a sadly eloquent show of condescension that says something about the values that prevail nowadays."
» more information (external link, Spanish)
More from the press review on the subject » Literature, » Audiovisual Media, » Spain
Women undervalued in Spanish everyday life
Writing in the daily La Vanguardia Spanish writer Laura Freixas criticises Italian head of government Silvio Berlusconi who likes to surround himself with pretty young women instead of competent collagues. But Freixas notes a similar tendency in everyday life in Spain: "How often do we see juries at festivals, round tables and TV debates consisting of men who have long professional track records but are not particularly attractive and women who look sexy but whose professional resumé is empty (or full, but with other things like modelling, TV presenting, acting, etc.). It may be that these women do have something to say but it's obvious that this was not the main criterion for their being chosen. Such tactics, which I want to believe are unconscious, and apparently subtle, ensure the a priori devaluation of all women and their difficulties in obtaining equal treatment because they are thus put on an equal footing with the other ones, the decorative ones."
» full article (external link, Spanish)
More from the press review on the subject » Gender equality, » Italy, » Spain
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