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Javier Marías Franco

ハビエル・マリアス・フランコ

Javier Marías Franco

Pen Names: Xavier I (King of Redonda)（Title used when he accepted the fictional/ceremonial throne of the Kingdom of Redonda）

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1951-09-20 （Madrid, Spain）
Died
2022-09-11 （Madrid, Spain） age 70
Nationality
Spanish
Languages
Spanish, English
Residence History
Madrid (birthplace and long-term residence) → United States (periods during childhood while his father taught) → Oxford (residence and lecturing) → Venice (residence/academic visits)

Career

Occupations
novelist, translator, columnist, essayist
Active Years
1971-2022
Affiliations
Real Academia Española (Seat R), Kingdom of Redonda (operated the Reino de Redonda imprint)
Memberships
Real Academia Española, Royal Society of Literature (International Writer)
Influenced By
Juan Benet, Henry James, Vladimir Nabokov
Influenced
Contemporary Spanish-language writers and translators, Numerous English-language translators and critics (via his translated works)

Education

Complutense University of Madrid
Faculty of Philosophy and Letters / Philosophy and Literary Studies
Period: 1968–1973
Year of Graduation: 1973
Country: Spain
Studied philosophy and literary sciences. Later lectured at several universities.

Awards

Fray Luis de León Translation Award
1979
Work: Translation of Tristram Shandy
Organization: Unknown (Spanish translation award)
Result: winner
Premio Herralde
1986
Work: El hombre sentimental (The Man of Feeling)
Organization: Anagrama / Premio Herralde
Result: winner
Barcelona City Award (Narrative)
1989
Work: Todas las almas (All Souls)
Organization: City of Barcelona
Result: winner
Spanish Critics Award (Premio de la Crítica Española)
1992
Work: Corazón tan blanco (A Heart So White)
Organization: Spanish literary critics
Result: winner
Rómulo Gallegos Prize
1995
Work: Mañana en la batalla piensa en mí (Tomorrow in the Battle Think on Me)
Organization: Rómulo Gallegos Foundation
Result: winner
Fastenrath Award
1995
Work: Mañana en la batalla piensa en mí
Organization: Real Academia Española
Result: winner
Prix Femina étranger
1996
Work: Demain dans la bataille pense à moi (French translation)
Organization: Prix Femina (France)
Result: winner
Nelly Sachs Prize
1997
Organization: Unknown (international literary prize)
Result: winner
International Dublin Literary Award (IMPAC)
1997
Work: A Heart So White
Organization: International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award
Result: winner (shared with translator)
Grinzane Cavour Prize
2000
Organization: Grinzane Cavour Foundation
Result: winner
America Award in Literature
2010
Work: Lifetime contribution to international writing
Organization: Green Integer / awarding committee
Result: winner
International Nonino Prize
2011
Organization: Nonino Foundation
Result: winner
Austrian State Prize for European Literature
2011
Organization: Austrian state literary body
Result: winner
Prix Formentor
2013
Work: For his body of work
Organization: Formentor Prize committee
Result: winner
LIBER Award (outstanding Hispano-American author)
2017
Organization: IFEMA / LIBER
Result: winner
Royal Society of Literature International Writer
2021
Work: Selected as an International Writer
Organization: Royal Society of Literature
Result: elected

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

All Souls

1989 Novel (set in Oxford; semi-autobiographical elements) 320 pages

A novel set at Oxford University focusing on academic life, observation and delicate interpersonal relationships.

memoryacademic lifeidentity
Adaptations
  • [film] Robert Rylands' Last Journey / Gracia Querejeta (1996)
Translations
  • All Souls (English translation)

A Heart So White

1992 Novel (psychological, elements of mystery) 272 pages

Centers on a UN translator and explores marriage, past secrets and the uncertainty of narration; notable for introspection and repetitive short passages.

secretsunreliable narrationtranslation and interpretation
Translations
  • English translation by Margaret Jull Costa (A Heart So White)

Tomorrow in the Battle Think on Me

1994 Novel 240 pages

A novel about a ghostwriter and the ethics of authorship, questioning narrative reliability and the function of language.

authorshipmemory and reproductionethics

Your Face Tomorrow (trilogy)

2002 Novel (long-form trilogy) 1200 pages

A major three-volume work involving translators and espionage-like elements; explores memory, observation, foresight and moral judgement.

observationethicssecrecy

The Infatuations

2011 Novel (mystery / psychological) 256 pages

A woman becomes drawn into a murder case and the people around it; the novel examines love, death and the nature of observation.

lovedeathobservation

Bibliography

  • Los dominios del lobo (1971)
  • Travesía del horizonte / Voyage Along the Horizon (1973)
  • El hombre sentimental / The Man of Feeling (1986)
  • Todas las almas / All Souls (1989)
  • Corazón tan blanco / A Heart So White (1992)
  • Mañana en la batalla piensa en mí / Tomorrow in the Battle Think on Me (1994)
  • Negra espalda del tiempo / Dark Back of Time (1998)
  • Your Face Tomorrow Volumes 1–3 (2002–2007)
  • The Infatuations (2011)
  • Thus Bad Begins (2014)
  • Berta Isla (2017)
  • Tomás Nevinson (2021)

Adaptations

  • Film adaptation of Todas las almas: El Último viaje de Robert Rylands (1996)

Translations by Author

  • Translation of Tristram Shandy (Laurence Sterne)
  • Spanish translations of works by John Updike, Thomas Hardy, Joseph Conrad
  • Translations of Vladimir Nabokov, William Faulkner, Henry James

Translations of Works

  • A Heart So White (English translation by Margaret Jull Costa)
  • Many works translated into English and some 45+ other languages (translations by Margaret Jull Costa and others)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
long sentences and introspective narrationmetafictional elementsnarration leveraging translators/ narrators' perspectives
Recurring Motifs
memory and forgettingtranslation and language issuessecrets and the undersideobservation and judgement

Health

  • pneumonia (caused by COVID-19)
    2022
    Developed pneumonia caused by COVID-19 and died in September 2022

Legacy

Javier Marías was one of the leading contemporary Spanish-language novelists, acclaimed internationally for a distinctive style that drew on his experience as a translator. His work influenced both scholars and general readers and was widely translated.

Academic Societies

  • Real Academia Española
  • Royal Society of Literature (selected)

In Popular Culture

  • The Kingdom of Redonda phenomenon (Reino de Redonda): literary/ceremonial title conferrals to notable cultural figures

Quotes

  • He said that the work of novelists is "pretty childish," but that it is impossible to narrate real events, and "you can only fully tell stories about what has never happened, the invented and imagined."
    Source: Investiture speech / remarks upon taking his seat at the Real Academia Española (2008)

Trivia

  • He rejected the Spanish National Novel Prize in 2011, saying he did not want to be indebted to any government.
  • In 1997 he accepted the title King of Redonda and later ran a small imprint called Reino de Redonda.
  • His books have been translated into over 45 languages and sold close to nine million copies worldwide.