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February 10th, 2022 (3:00-4:30 Boston / 21:00-22:30 Madrid)

In this session the Director of the Observatorio, Diana Sorensen, and its Executive Director, Marta Mateo, will converse with Lola Larumbe Doral, the Director of Madrid’s Librería Rafael Alberti, which is one of the Spanish capital’s cultural reference points. Since its founding in 1980, this bookstore has been visited by not only the biggest names in Spanish and Latin American Literature but also by up-and-coming writers, and it has been recognized with various awards. During this conversation, Larumbe will discuss how her bookstore has evolved into a space of dialogue and cultural gatherings, as well as other topics like the role of the bookseller, current reading habits in Madrid and in Spain in general, what factors determine these habits, the relationship Spanish readers have with Latin American Literature and with translated literature (especially from the U.S.), today’s publishing industry, and how her bookstore has been affected by phenomena like the pandemic, the growth of the digital world and social media.

            In 2005 Lola Larumbe Doral received the V Premio Librero Cultural from Spain’s Ministry of Culture. She supplements her work as the head of the Librería Rafael Alberti with teaching collaborations in various training programs such as the Master's Degree in Publishing at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, courses at the Escuela Complutense de Verano, and La Fábrica’s Curso de Director de Proyectos Culturales. With a degree in Biological Sciences, Larumbe also has her own publications related to her passion for the world of books, among them “¡A las librerías!,” “Pasiones por el papel,” and “Los lectores que conozco.”

Online via Zoom | RSVP: https://bit.ly/RSVP-Observatorio o info-observatory@fas.harvard.edu

Photo gallery: https://cervantesobservatorio.fas.harvard.edu/en/galleries/photos/la-libreria-rafael-alberti-de-madrid-vida-y-encuentros-alrededor-de-los-libros-y-la

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