Bertol Arrieta: "Doing a literary residence is an incomparable luxury"

The Basque author Bertol Arrieta was one of the first literary residents at the MUHBA Vil·la Joana. He stayed there between the 8^th and the 29^th of May 2023, and his assessment of it is entirely positive: “For a writer it is an incomparable luxury to be able to do a literary residency anywhere, since over this time you’re just busy writing. But, in addition, in Vil·la Joana you’re in a natural park, away from the often annoying noises of the city, and it’s ideal to be able to work fully on the task of writing”.

He arrived there ready to make progress in a text –between a long story and a short novel– in which the Barcelona Metro plays a major role. For this reason, even though he had been to the city before, on this occasion he took the opportunity to get to know neighbourhoods and places he had not yet set foot in. “I went around Poblenou, Sarrià and Raval, and, of course, I took the Metro a lot!, reaching the last station of different lines.” He also immersed himself in the cultural life of the city: he went to watch theatre at the Sala Beckett and visited the CCCB exhibition on the Marquès de Sade.

He tells us that the protagonist of the story set in Barcelona is called Oskar, a resident of Idiazabal (a small town in the deep Gipuzkoa) who has been living in the Catalan capital for a dozen years, after having gone there to study a degree in Illustration. He decided to stay because of the fascination that the city caused him, but also because of his status as a homosexual and the oppressive atmosphere he felt in his native town. The story takes a turn when, after several failed attempts, he gets his widowed father to visit him. “I came home with the first draft of the story, although I’m now considering whether it can be turned into a graphic novel script,” he informs us.

Regarding the residency, he also particularly values the contact with other writers: “It is always interesting to talk to other authors, and even more so if they come from the other side of the world, because, in addition to getting to know the particularities of their country and culture, you have the opportunity to delve into their work or even their writing method.” Arrieta coincided in the stay in Vil·la Joana with the Polish translator Marta Jordan and the Australian author Ellen Savage.

More information about the residences, in this link.