Marisol Schulz: "Suddenly I ran into Lluís Llach at our house in Mexico"

BarcelonaFor thirteen years, Marisol Schulz (Mexico City, 1957) has been at the helm of the Guadalajara International Book Fair (FIL), which a few months ago Barcelona was received as guest of honorSchulz received the Gold Medal for Cultural Merit from the Barcelona City Council this Wednesday. She was accompanied on this trip, which she describes as "very special," by her partner, daughter, and two grandchildren, who move about the hotel with enviable freedom. "I brought them all here because it's the first time I've received an honor like this," she says, ready to reminisce about her past as an editor—she directed Alfaguara Mexico for almost a decade—and her Valencian family roots.

You were born and raised in Mexico City, but at home you felt the Catalan language every day, right?

— Yes. My mother was from Valencia. On her side, I come from a family of intellectuals. My great-grandfather, José Manaut, was a painter and also a lawyer. His best friends were Vicente Blasco Ibáñez and Joaquín Sorolla, who had dedicated paintings to him. He signed the first divorce decree in Valencia and established the first co-educational school there. We're talking about the beginning of the 20th century. He was very progressive for his time, and it's striking now because the world, in many ways, is going backward. My grandfather Guillermo, who was a sculptor, had been a member of an anti-monarchist and republican party. At the end of the war, he had to flee with his brother and father on the last ship leaving the port of Alicante before the Francoists arrived.

Where did they go?

— They ended up on the coast of Oran. There they spent some time in a French concentration camp. They weren't treated very well, no... But after a while they were able to leave to work in France, in the countryside, and months later they obtained safe passage to Mexico as political exiles.

How did your mother come to Mexico?

— She stayed in Valencia for several years with her sister and mother, saving all the money she needed to pay for the trip to Mexico. Now, travel is much easier than it was then. They finally left in 1946, when she was 16. She didn't return to Spain until many years later, as a tourist. Her grandfather never set foot there again. He would have been imprisoned.

Eleven years after she arrived in Mexico, you were born.

— My mother met my father, who was a chemist, in Mexico. Although I was never spoken to in Catalan, it was the language my mother used with her family. I grew up surrounded by Catalan every day. I'm a big believer in bilingualism: being exposed to another language at a young age allows you to absorb and understand it. My grandmother, for example, barely spoke Spanish. She even adapted Mexican slang into Catalan. She talked about Valencia every day. Her longing and nostalgia for her homeland was immense. My grandfather, in addition to being a sculptor, painted, and his house was full of paintings with Valencian themes. I was dressed as a fallera every March 19th.

And how did it become part of Catalan culture?

— My great-grandfather had founded a Valencian Regional Center in Mexico City. In 1967, when I was 10 years old, a young man named RaimonI remember the audience's emotion at hearing them sing in their own language, a language that was forbidden in the country they came from. From then on, I listened to Raimon's album where he was... To the wind and Let's say noA little later, when I was about 14, Serrat came along, who revolutionized teenagers with his adaptations of Machado, but also with Catalan songs like Words of love and Early morning song.

I had read somewhere that he also liked Salvador Espriu.

— I discovered literature at a very young age. I still have the poetry books from Salvador Espriu which I read a little later than those of Vicente Blasco Ibáñez.

He also liked Lluís Llach's music, didn't he?

— He's a great friend. The story of how I met him is curious. An aunt of mine, who was very young, had spent some time in Valencia and had become very good friends with the best friend of Lluís LlachWhen he returned to Mexico, he invited political refugees and other people who came from Spain to his home. One day I arrived home and suddenly found Lluís Llach there. I knew him before I'd seen him on stage. Quico Pino de la Sierra The same thing happened. Catalan song and poetry interested me a lot. So did the anti-Franco movement.

When did you first come to Barcelona?

— Before Franco's death, I had already been there a couple of times. In 1977, for personal reasons, I spent some time in Barcelona and stayed in Lluís Llach's apartment. From the 1990s onward, when I became editor at Alfaguara Mexico and, later, director of Alfaguara and Taurus, my contact with Barcelona was constant: with authors, literary agents, and others.

She came to the world of publishing by chance: she graduated in history, didn't she?

— Yes. I started by editing the university gazette, later I worked for several academic publishers and in 1993 I joined Alfaguara.

He was there until 2010. I'm sure some authors must have become friends with him.

— The relationship between editor and author is very special. In many ways, it becomes symbiotic. When you have a good level of trust with them, they turn to you for everything. In some cases, it even develops into an almost familial bond. In fact, as an editor, you often protect your authors. "We are the warrior's shadow," a friend who is now deceased used to say. "The authors should shine, not us. We must, therefore, remain in the shadows."

With which authors did he have the closest relationship?

— With Carlos FuentesFor example, sometimes when he was in Mexico—because he spent time in London—he would come to see me at the office and we would chat. It was wonderful to be able to have in-depth conversations with such a brilliant mind as his. José Saramago We had a warm and affectionate relationship. I'm still very good friends with his widow, Pilar del Río. I also remember Mario Vargas Llosa. I was one of the last people to speak publicly with him. We had a lovely conversation at the Guadalajara Book Fair in 2023.

Now that you mention the Guadalajara Fair, you have been its general director since 2013.

— That year I changed my focus, although my life has always revolved around books. When my good friend Raúl Padilla suggested it, I asked for two days to think it over: it was a huge challenge. I accepted with complete commitment, convinced that I would never have an opportunity like that again.

Why did Barcelona end up being the guest city at last year's Book Fair?

— One of my roles as director general is cultural diplomacy. In January 2022, I was invited to a conference held at the DHub. The day before, there was a cocktail party at a central location where no one knew me. It was Jordi Valls, who was then the director of Mercabarna, who approached me and struck up a conversation. I mentioned that I hoped Barcelona could become the guest city at the FIL (Barcelona International Book Fair), and he arranged a lunch for me with Xavier Marcé, [Barcelona City Councillor for Culture and Creative Industries], and Patrici Tixis [president of the Catalan Book Chamber]. The idea of ​​a candidacy began to take shape at that moment, but it didn't truly blossom until Jaume Collboni became mayor.

Is the guest of honor taking it with as much enthusiasm and energy as the Barcelona delegation did?

Barcelona has set the bar very high in Guadalajara. It was one of the best guests of honor at the fair, with a powerful, refreshing, and enthusiastic presentation. This explosion of literature, art, music, gastronomy, and design stemmed from a very simple idea. It could have fizzled out, but in the end, it flourished, it was a success, and we hope it continues.