A Reader’s Dialogue with Aixa de la Cruz

Abstract

Aixa de la Cruz (Bilbao, 1988) holds a degree in English Philology and a PhD in Literary Theory and Comparative Literature. Her literary work, translated into several languages, explores themes such as identity, memory, the body, and familial relationships. Her published novels include Cuando fuimos los mejores (2007), De música ligera (2009), La línea del frente (2017), Todo empieza con la sangre (2025), alongside the essays Cambiar de idea (2019) y Diccionario en guerra (2018). She was awarded the Euskadi Prize for Literature in 2020 and was a finalist for the XV Dulce Chacón Prize. This conversation focused on two of her works: the short story collection Modelos animales (2015) and the novel Las herederas (2022). In these texts, de la Cruz confronts taboos, reimagines motives of the Gothic tradition, and examines near-delirious contradictions of contemporary life. Held by videoconference at the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters of the National University of Cuyo, the event brought students together with the author in a real dialogue, conceived as a continuation of the imaginary one that reading literature entails.