Isabel Sucunza: "I can't imagine hiring someone who doesn't speak Catalan."

They didn't even make a list. The shop was in the Calders passage, and he was an author they liked. That's why Isabel Sucunza and Abel Cutillas knew exactly what name to use to launch a bookstore without... bestsellers and with a lot of independent publishing that has been around for over 10 years.

Recommend a book to me.

— We always recommend Watusi DayIn fact, we have a W painted on the wall, because the book begins with a night in which Barcelona appears full of w on the walls.

Why this one?

— I really like the writer, Francisco Casavella, and the story he tells. It's the history of Barcelona from the Transition to 1992, told through the eyes of a boy growing up. There's innocence at the beginning, there are adventures, and then there's the discovery of urban planning corruption. And it's all masterfully told. But… the first thing I should mention is that it's in Spanish and hasn't been translated.

Well, one in Catalan, okay.

— There's one I highly recommend, but people don't listen to me, and that's Blai Bonet. There's no way to sell him on it. And he's fantastic…

Why do we like the books we like?

— There are different types of readers. Some like things that resonate with them and that deal with things they recognize, while others enjoy science fiction or adventure.

A first book that made a lasting impression on you?

— Nothingby Carmen Laforet. The kind of book that was lying around the house and one day fell into my hands; I must have been 14. And it's because of the relatability we were talking about earlier: a girl who arrives in Barcelona, ​​lost, who goes to her aunt and uncle's house and gradually discovers herself. I suppose I saw myself in her.

You came from Pamplona to Barcelona.

— I wasn't a child. I was 26 years old, and I remember feeling dizzy. The city seemed enormous. At three o'clock on a Tuesday afternoon, the city center was packed. I think everything made me dizzy because I didn't know what to do with my life.

You must have known something…

— I had studied journalism and knew I wanted a job related to writing. I ended up in The Leisure GuideI didn't even know where the Romea Theatre was; I was carrying paper maps around everywhere.

When did the idea of a bookstore appear?

— I suppose that the day Abel Cutillas, whom I met on a program where I worked, told me:Aunt"We should open a bookstore." He came from La Central, and he told me, "I know how bookstores work and you know how to organize events." We had a clear idea of the bookstore model and ended up finding a partner.

Which model?

— Give real importance to the activities themselves, and make sure they weren't the typical book launches with the editor and author explaining how wonderful the book is. And pay close attention to independent publishers.

It is said that they are no longer bookstores, but cultural spaces.

— It really annoys me. No. We're bookstores, we sell books.

Why does it make you angry?

— It bothers me that we're included in the schedule of free activities or that booksellers' work is romanticized by saying we're super-empathetic psychologists. No, we're salespeople. When the bookseller is a man, none of this happens, and he's considered a businessman. I don't know, it's hard for me to analyze, but I know for sure that it infuriates me.

Romanticism often justifies precariousness.

— Absolutely, yes. Remedios Zafra explains it in her book. The enthusiasm.

You speak perfect Catalan.

— It never ceases to amaze me that it's surprising. Well, it's not surprising given the current state of the language. It wouldn't occur to me to hire someone who doesn't speak Catalan and who doesn't have a certain level of reading experience in Catalan. If I didn't know Catalan, I'd miss out on incredible things.

Which is it?

— At first, I asked people to recommend books in Catalan, and everyone called me Empar Moliner or Quim Monzó. And, okay, they're fine. But one day in Sant Antoni I bought Death and Spring, by Rodoreda, and when I finished I thought: but why had no one told me about this?

What defines a good book?

— I'm blown away by the feeling I get from authors like Cartarescu or Borges. I feel like I'm reading something important; I think they're telling me things about the world they've thought about a lot, and somehow they help me broaden my perspective. For me, this is a good book. Although some of the lighter pieces are also very good.

Are the best the best sellers?

— The opposite is usually true. But bestsellers are typically accompanied by a major marketing campaign, with authors appearing on billboards and radio stations that are sometimes owned by the same publishing groups.

If bookstores are the books they have and also the ones they don't have, what is La Calders?

— I would like people to say that we have independent publishing, a lot of poetry – which when we opened they told us we wouldn't sell, and which keeps growing – and that we are perceived as a dynamic bookstore, attentive to what is happening outside.

A classic?

— I'm not going to say just one. Nor the Iliad nor theOdysseyI recommend the Cal Carré publishing house, which is republishing medieval classics from a feminist perspective.

What did you want to be when you were little?

— I don't know, though, somehow, without realizing it, I've always had jobs related to books. And I've ended up with a bookstore, so mission accomplished.