Diego Recoba: "Vil·la Joana has provided me with fruitful solitude"

Uruguayan writer, journalist and editor Diego Recoba was one of the literary residents at Vil·la Joana his year. His experience, as he describes it, has been ‘deeply enriching’, combining an ideal environment for creation with the opportunity to connect with the spirit of the city and its rhythms.

During the residency, Recoba focused on a novel in progress, a long-term project that deals with the life of an Uruguayan artist from the 1980s who emigrates to Europe. This work, which has already begun, has gained depth thanks to direct immersion in the city. ‘Writing about a certain place from afar is possible, but being there physically gives you a sensory dimension that neither digital technology nor distance can provide’, explains the writer, who visited libraries and cultural centres for his research.

Recoba also highlights Vil·la Joana’s ability to create a balance between solitude and connection. The ‘fruitful solitude’, as he himself defines it, was crucial to his creative process, offering him quality time away from the usual distractions and noise. The natural environment of Collserola, combined with easy access to Barcelona, allowed him to combine serenity and cultural activity in a unique experience.

The writer not only worked on his literary project, but also lived the city intensely. He explored Collserola, visited Jordi Colomer’s exhibition at MACBA, took part in the events of La Mercè and even in demonstrations, capturing a polyhedric image of Barcelona. For him, this residency was not only an opportunity to create, but also to ‘walk the city without a direction, simply to inhabit it in a different way’.

With his latest novel, El cielo visible, recently launched as part of Penguin Random House’s ‘Mapa de las Lenguas’ programme and presented in Barcelona, and a new novel on the way, Diego Recoba recommends that authors considering a residency should not hesitate: ‘It is a space to listen to what your work has to say’.

For more information about residences in Vil·la Joana, click this link.