Adelaida García Morales (1945, in

Badajoz Badajoz (; formerly written ''Badajos'' in English) is the capital of the Province of Badajoz in the autonomous community of Extremadura, Spain. It is situated close to the Portuguese border, on the left bank of the river Guadiana. The population ...

, Spain – 22 September 2014, in

Dos Hermanas Dos Hermanas () is a Spanish city south of Seville in Andalusia, with a population of 131,317 as of 2015. History The city's name, which means "two sisters", dates from its founding in 1248 by King Ferdinand III of Castile and honours Elvira ...

, Spain) was a Spanish writer.

Life and work

Born in Badajoz, García Morales moved at the age of 13 to

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

, her parents' home town. She lived there for most of her youth. She went to university in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

, obtaining a degree in philosophy and letters in 1970. She also studied screenwriting at the Escuela Oficial de Cine (State School of Cinematography). She then worked as a high school teacher, teaching Spanish and philosophy, and as a model and actress, forming part of the theatre group

Esperpento Esperpento denotes a literary style in Spanish literature first established by Spanish author Ramón María del Valle-Inclán that uses distorted descriptions of reality in order to criticize society. Leading themes include death, the grotesque, an ...

. She also worked for a while as a translator in Algeria. Her first novel, ''Archipiélago'' was published in 1981, but success didn't come until 1985, when she published her acclaimed volume of two novellas: ''El sur, seguido de Bene''. The story ''El sur'' was made into a famous film by her then partner

Víctor Erice Víctor Erice Aras (; born 30 June 1940) is a Spanish film director. He is best known for his two feature fiction films, ''The Spirit of the Beehive'' (1973), which many regard as one of the greatest Spanish films ever made, and '' El Sur'' (1983 ...

, whom she had first met in 1972. Her next book, ''El silencio de las sirenas'', set in

Capileira Capileira is the highest and most northerly of the three villages in the gorge of the Poqueira river in the La Alpujarra district of the province of Granada, in Spain. It is located at latitude 36° 57' N and longitude 3° 21' W, about 1 km n ...

(a village in the

Alpujarras The Alpujarra (, Arabic: ''al-bussarat'') is a natural and historical region in Andalusia, Spain, on the south slopes of the Sierra Nevada and the adjacent valley. The average elevation is above sea level. It extends over two provinces, ...

where she had lived for five years in the late 1970s), was her most successful work, winning the

Premio Herralde The Premio Herralde is a Spanish literary prize. It is awarded annually by the publishing house Anagrama Anagrama is a Spanish publisher founded in 1969 by Jorge Herralde. In 2010 it was sold to the Italian publisher Feltrinelli. Since 1969, Ana ...

and the Premio Ícaro. The principal theme of the novel: an obsessive, unrequited love, was said to be based on her own obsession with the philosopher Eugenio Trías, whom she had only met once. García Morales died of heart failure in 2014 in

, in the province of Seville.

Publications

Novels

*Archipiélago (1981), shortlisted for Premio Sésamo,1981 *El Sur y Bene (1985,

Anagrama Anagrama is a Spanish publisher founded in 1969 by Jorge Herralde. In 2010 it was sold to the Italian publisher Feltrinelli. Since 1969, Anagrama has published over 3,500 titles. currently, Anagrama publishes around 100 books annually, between t ...

) – two novellas in one volume *El silencio de las sirenas (1985, Anagrama): Premio Herralde 1985 y Premio Ícaro 1985 *La lógica del vampiro (1990, Anagrama) *Las mujeres de Héctor (1994, Anagrama) *La tía Águeda (1995, Anagrama) *Nasmiya (1996, Plaza y Janés) *El accidente (1997, Anaya) *La señorita Medina (1997, Plaza y Janés) *El secreto de Elisa (1999, Debate) *Una historia perversa (2001, Planeta) *El testamento de Regina (2001, Debate)

Short stories

*Mujeres solas (1996, Plaza y Janés) *La carta. Cuento en Vidas de mujer (1998, Alianza) *El legado de Amparo. Cuento en Mujeres al alba (1999, Alfaguara) *La mirada. Cuento en Don Juan. Relatos (2008, 451 Editores)

Translations into English

*The silence of the sirens, tr. C. Hayter (1989) *The South & Bene, tr. Sarah Marsh (1992) *The South & Bene, tr. Thomas G. Deveny (1999) Her short story ‘’El encuentro (A Chance Encounter)'' was included in ''Rainy Days - Días de lluvia: Short Stories by Contemporary Spanish Women Writers'', an anthology edited by Montserrat Lunati, together with a translation into English. ''Rainy Days - Días de lluvia: Short Stories by Contemporary Spanish Women Writers'' edited by Montserrat Lunati. Aris and Phillips Hispanic Classics, 2018 .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Garcia Morales, Adelaida Spanish novelists 1945 births 2014 deaths