Big names in culture gather at the Estepona Literary Festival (FLEST) to open the new Mirador del Carmen library

Andrés Trapiello, Marta Sanz, the musician Pablo Pablopablo, the filmmaker Oliver Laxe, the chef Paco Morales or the artists Coco Dávez and Brianda Fizt James-Stuart are some of the names participating in this edition, which will be held on November 23 and 24.

The meeting will feature lectures, workshops, readings, author signings and concerts.

The Estepona City Council adds a new cultural event to its program. It is the Estepona Literary Festival (FLEST), which will bring together great names in literature, music, journalism and gastronomy in a meeting to be held on 23 and 24 November. This will be the first major event to be held in the new Library of Contemporary Cultures at the Mirador del Carmen.

Some twenty great names in literature, music, artistic creation and gastronomy will participate in a meeting in which different disciplines will come together to create synergies and exchange experiences, making this first Estepona Literary Festival a unique setting.

The program will begin on Saturday, November 23 with two artistic interventions. At 9.00 a.m., with the artist Brianda Fitz James-Stuart, who will perform a work on one of the walls of the library. At 12:00 noon, the workshop ‘El brochazo transformador’ will take place, by Coco Dávez, a multidisciplinary artist, coach and Spanish mentor known for her vibrant and colorful style, which has achieved international recognition in the world of art and culture. The activity will take place on the sixth floor of the library.

Throughout the day, from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m., various talks and meetings will take place in the Mirador del Carmen Auditorium. The first of them will bring together writers Andrés Trapiello and Marta Fernández, who will talk about ‘Traces, verses and novels’. Andrés Trapiello is the author of award-winning novels, the latest of which is ‘Me piden que regrese’ (Destino, 2024). Marta Fernández is a journalist and has been a news anchor at Telecinco and Noticias Cuatro. ‘La mentira, historia de impostores y engañados’ is her latest book (HarperCollins, 2022).

Literature will continue to be the protagonist in the second meeting, at 6 p.m., which will bring together writers Marta Sanz and Juan Marqués with a talk entitled ‘Lo íntimo y los publicados’ (The intimate and the published). Marta Sanz has published novels, short stories, essays and poems. Her latest book is ‘Los íntimos’ (Anagrama, 2024). Juan Marqués is the author of a novel and five books of poems gathered in ‘De qué vas a vivir’ (Comares, 2024). He has curated exhibitions on Max Aub and Pilar de Valderrama for the Cervantes Institute.

A meeting with David Uclés is scheduled for Saturday afternoon. With a degree and Master’s Degree in Translation and Interpretation, this native of Jaén is also a writer, musician and cartoonist. La península de las casas vacías’ (Siruela, 2024) is his latest novel and one of the great successes of Spanish literature this year. It will take place at 19.00 hours.

Later, at 8 p.m., it will be the turn of the artist Mina Barrio, with ‘The importance of showing oneself to the other’. Audiovisual artist, content creator with thousands of followers on social networks and co-founder of Melon Blanc and the Melon School course platform, she has created more than 500 audiovisual works for brands and has trained more than half a million students in her ten years of experience.

The finale of the day will be the music of Pablopablo, one of the most relevant new voices in Spanish music today, who has just received two awards, along with his father Jorge Drexler, at the Latin Grammy 2024, on the FLEST Stage at the Mirador, starting at 9:00 pm. The singer and author has two other awards obtained in 2022 with his first album.

Also on stage will be Barcelona’s Sophie Lekker DJ, and Grecotechno, with its original sound fusion between Gregorian chant and electronic music.

Second day

For the day on Sunday, a workshop by Brianda Fitz-James Stuart is scheduled from 12.00 noon. Introduction to decorative painting’. It will be held on the sixth floor of the Mirador del Carmen Library, and is open to all interested parties, subject to free registration. Brianda Fitz James-Stuart is an illustrator and designer. She studied Fashion Design at the European Institute of Design and completed her training at The Art Student League of New York. She has collaborated with brands such as Gucci, Suarez, Swatch and Zara.

Again on Sunday, the Mirador auditorium will be the stage, between 12.00 and 20.00 hours, for several talks and meetings. The first of them will bring together the writers Juan Tallón and Lucía Taboada, who will talk about ‘Football, novels, and other anxieties’. Juan Tallón is a regular contributor to the media. His latest novel is ‘El mejor del mundo’ (Anagrama). Lucía Taboada is a journalist. She currently presents the sports edition of Telecinco’s midday news, collaborates with other media and directs and presents the literary podcast ‘Nota al Pie’ (Vanity Fair). He has written the book ‘Como siempre, lo de siempre’ (Libros del KO), which was awarded the Panenka Prize for best book of the year 2019.

Gastronomy also has its space in this festival of culture. The chef Paco Morales, one of the most outstanding figures of Spanish gastronomy, with three Michelin stars and distinguished with The Best Chef Award 2024, will chat, starting at 1 p.m., with the writer, audiovisual producer and screenwriter, Jacobo Bergareche. The talk is entitled ‘Eating to tell the tale: A perfect day with a three Michelin star’.

The multidisciplinary artist Coco Dávez and Guille Galván, guitarist of ‘Vetusta Morla’, will open the evening, at 6 p.m., with ‘Desconocernos, artistas que escriben, poetas que cantan’. Galván has been nominated for a Latin Grammy in the category of Best Alternative Author, and has composed soundtracks for films such as ‘La Hija’ and ‘El amor de Andrea’ or ‘La Virgen Roja’.

Ricardo Lezón and María Eloy García will address, at 7 p.m., the talk ‘Spoken word’. María Eloy-García has published several books translated into many languages. She stands out for an interesting staging, with a particular voice and irony. In this meeting she will be accompanied by Ricardo Lezón, leader of the group ‘McEnroe’ and author of the autobiography ‘Lento y salvaje’.

Ramón Andrés and Oliver Laxe will join, at 8 p.m., in the talk ‘Despacio el mundo’. Ramón Andrés has written numerous books and has received awards such as the Premio Ciutat de Barcelona and the Premio Nacional de la Crítica de Poesía. For his part, Oliver Laxe is the only filmmaker in the history of Spanish cinema to have won awards for his first three films at the Cannes Film Festival. With the feature film Mimosas (2016) he won the Special Jury Prize at the Seville European Film Festival. His latest film ‘O que arde’ received two Goya awards.

The music of Rosario La Tremendita will hit the FLEST stage at 9pm. Considered the protagonist of the last great revolution in flamenco singing, she is a composer, producer, lyricist and multi-instrumentalist. With two nominations for the Latin Grammy Awards for ‘Best Flamenco Album’ (2015 and 2018), and the MIN Independent Music Award with her album Tremenda, the artist will close the day and this edition of the Estepona Literary Festival with which the new Library of Contemporary Cultures of the city is put in value.

Admission to the activities of this festival is free, upon withdrawal of the invitation at the counter of the hall itself on the days of the event. To attend the workshops, prior registration is required at flest@estepona.es (limited places), with full name and ID card.

All the information about the festival at: www.estepona.es