Vicente Puchol

A chronicle of the author’s life (in the author’s own words).

I lived through Franco’s dictatorship and chose a position in society that would free me from all possible forms of servitude. To this end, I had to strive for many years to pursue a career as a notary, a profession which, in my country, afforded total autonomy whilst upholding and enforcing the law.

Practising my profession also provided me with a privileged vantage point from which to gain an in-depth understanding of the conflicts of interest among human beings and the legal context in which they arise. True to my vocation as a writer, I made the most of my independence to read to my heart’s content, and belatedly, when I least expected it, the floodgates opened, and all the pent-up energy poured out into my first novel.

Convinced that it was my readers who made me a writer, I devoted myself wholeheartedly to literary creation, cultivating friendships with the great writers of the time, who honoured me with their friendship and esteem. These included Vicente Aleixandre, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature; Carlos Bousoño and Claudio Rodríguez, both recipients of the Prince of Asturias Award; José Hierro, winner of the Cervantes Prize; Francisco Brines, winner of the Cervantes and Queen Sofía Prizes; Francisco Nieva; Alfredo Bryce Echenique; and others.

Since retiring, I have revisited my novels, refining them, making them easier to read and clarifying the more obscure points, so that the reader might glide through them without a hitch. This must surely be the ideal for all writers, but I do not even know if I myself have hit the mark, cleanly.