Yolanda Arrieta Malaxetxebarria (Etxebarria, 1963) has written many books for children and young people. More than 30 appear on the website of the member Galtzagorri Association. He has also won numerous awards, including the 2015 Euskadi Award. However, there are countless thousands of miles to go from school to school to promote reading and a love of literature. He remembered several students he met during these sessions when he wrote ‘Zerak’ (180 pages, 16 euros).
– Fantasy played an important role in the two previous books for young people, ‘Ataria’ and ‘Txokolategia’. Is this ‘What’ going the same way?
– No, this is completely new, very different in style and theme. More than fantasy, there are emotions, things that happen inside, losses, gaps … These are the ‘things’.
– Do these ‘things’ have less space than they should in young people’s literature?
– They are mentioned, but the ways are different. In the case of children, they are sometimes treated as subjects. Books considered to be youth literature, on the other hand, focus on emotions that are supposedly appealing to young people. I wanted to work on literature, use metaphors and symbols, not only for young people and children, but for universal emotions: losses, self-limitations, obstacles to progress … I focused mainly on this bridge of adolescence, leaving childhood behind. and instead of being oneself, others / oneself in that tension.
– If you haven’t used the cover of fantasy or adventure, how do you dress up that intent?
“I’m dressed in response.” I tried to play it short, to go straight to the wire, but without giving up the indirect paths. The ways I have used to formulate these ‘things’ are metaphors, symbols, literary games … Sometimes I have used animals to show the wild side of our inner self; to explain freedom, dependence, and the like; to formulate the person’s emotions and the things that happen in society, almost like in a fable.
Recipients
“I’ve noticed those who read a lot, write very well, and often feel isolated.”
education
“Today, school doesn’t help to educate people regarding reading or their taste in beauty.”
– Provides complex writing. Is it difficult to read?
– One of the goals was to have a quick read book. I don’t give up on what I wanted to write, but the book has to be salable too, they have to read it. In fact, when I’m into youth literature, every book is a challenge for me. In the case of ‘Portal’, I wanted to do something without doing it. In ‘Chocolate’, tell something without telling it. This time I wanted to reach out to young people without giving up on literature: write an easy-to-read book and at the same time create a multi-layered text. It is written in small parts, and everything can be read in an hour and a half in a row. Anyone who does this exercise can find a thread underneath, but it can also be read loosely or backwards.
– What will the reader find in the thread that connects the parts?
“He’ll find the protagonist, Alicia, a teenage girl.” He will find the things that are happening, and the changes that these events are causing him. Alice is different at the beginning and the end, as she has made a leap in the meantime, as is often the case in adolescence. He says goodbye to childhood, and hello to the new era.
Flip, throw and start once more
– There is a tendency to put all teenagers and young people in the same bag, to offer similar things to everyone. Have you ever considered what you think these ‘standards’ are like when you write ‘What’, or do you just ignore them?
– The market is marked, and within the market is marked what young people will like. I’m going to answer this time. I first had to look for the ‘things’ of my adolescence. These have led me to some of the students I have seen in schools. Those who read a lot, those who write very well, I have in mind; sometimes seen as ‘geeks’ in ESO and Baccalaureate, even when they start their careers later, when they go through a conflicted and lonely teenage journey, these have been role models for many others. I see teenagers who understand adult literature in schools and writing workshops, who are able to write wonderful texts. I don’t write for everyone, this book is for them. Many do not have a good time in adolescence, they carry these ‘things’ inside, which are closely linked to the gaze of others. In adolescence, it is difficult to be oneself, especially nowadays, when there are so many things: fashions, social habits, online … How to be without feeling isolated, that was the starting point, as well as the idea that I have been very present in each text. Sometimes these young people are covered up in general, which is why I think it’s appropriate to pay attention.
– You can also relate this to the role of education in the promotion of reading and literature.
– Reading and literature are not the same thing, we should differentiate. I think we need to be educated in the beauty of art, which is as necessary as math. That’s where the literature is set, and the school is left in the lurch as students get older. As the children move from the floor to the table and from the table to the screen, it gradually shrinks. In the ESO and Baccalaureate classrooms, the screen is predominant, there are no books in the classrooms, and almost no libraries in the schools. By this I do not mean that education should save the taste for reading and beauty, but today school does not help to educate either one or the other. I’m talking regarding the model, the structure. We find a lot of teachers who put in a lot of effort, but the structure doesn’t make things easier for them: they don’t have much time, the classes are short, not even the square classrooms that are all looking forward help …
– In the case of Basque, does the direct link between reading and training add another layer to the situation?
– Yes, a layer full of obstacles, moreover, or full of holes, because it becomes instrumental literature; a thing for something, and not everything in itself.
– Is there a solution to the problem?
– Since the subject is very complex, it is difficult to draw a single conclusion … I, if it were a container, would flip it over, throw everything away and start once more. As I have done in this book, I would go on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on
.
