On Saturday 18 May, the writer Espido Freire and the journalist and writer Marta Robles will discuss the figure and work of Benito Pérez Galdós (1843-1920) and Almudena Grandes (1960-2021) as part of the 'Two Authors, One City’ literary series organised by the Serrería Belga (The Belgian Sawmill) Cultural Space, with the aim of taking a fresh look at classic and contemporary writers and their relationship with the city of Madrid.

As Espido Freire explains, Benito Pérez Galdós and Almudena Grandes, who died 101 years apart, were two of Madrid’s most important chroniclers. "They were novelists with an extensive body of work, without whom it would be impossible to understand the literary construction of the city. They both embarked on a quest to recover recent memory and, curiously enough, they both shared their lives with another writer".

This informal and entertaining conversation, which is open to all audiences, will explore the influence of Madrid in their work and take a fresh look at their figures and their work.

Benito Pérez Galdós, a leading exponent of the Spanish realist novel of the 19th century, was elected to the Royal Academy in 1897 and nominated for the Nobel Prize in 1912. One of the most prolific writers of his generation, Galdós produced numerous novels and plays, including 'Doña Perfecta', 'Marianela', 'The Grandfather', the 'National Episodes' collection and 'Fortunata and Jacinta'.

Almudena Grandes, winner of the National Narrative Prize in 2018, achieved great success with her first novel 'The Ages of Lulu', which was followed by other novels such as 'Malena is the Name of a Tango' and 'The Frozen Heart', which won the José Manuel Lara and the Madrid Booksellers' Guild awards. Many of her novels are set at the end of the 20th century, most notably the series 'Episodes of an Endless War', which consists of six independent novels that recount important moments in the struggle against the Franco regime between 1939 and 1964.