Isaac Rosa (Spain)

Isaac Rosa (born in Seville in 1974) is a Spanish writer, known for his dozen novels, as well as short stories and comics. Additionally, he works as a journalist, primarily as a columnist for the online publication Eldiario.es. While his early novels looked into the past, touching on themes related to 20th-century Spanish history, he later tackled contemporary fears and human relationships, and now has shifted his focus towards the future in his work.

Rosa is renowned for being a writer aimed at discerning literary tastes and possessing a good style. He gained wider recognition with the work “Another Damn Civil War Novel!” (“¡Otra maldita novela sobre la guerra civil!”, 2007), satirizing the boom of Civil War themes prevailing in Spanish literature. His next novel, “The Empty Yesterday” (“El vano ayer”, 2004), earned him the prestigious Rómulo Gallegos Prize, awarded to the best work in the Spanish-speaking literary space over a two-year period. Translated into Estonian this year by Marianne Ots, his novel “Happy Ending” (“Feliz final”, 2018) was published by Toledo Publishing House. It’s a story about the possibility of love in the modern world turned upside down, as well as dreams of home, parenthood, blended families, sexuality, fidelity, and economic uncertainty.

The protagonist of Isaac Rosa’s latest novel, “A Safe Place” (“Lugar seguro”, 2022), builds bunkers to offer low-income people the chance to create even an illusory refuge in our threatening world. This near-future novel has been dubbed an antidystopia; the writer has stated that he is tired of the prevailing dystopian visions of the future and believes there is no reason to doubt our ability to trust each other and cooperate even in times of crisis.