Five Questions with… Flavia Company
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© Margarita Sánchez
IFOA: What inspired The Island of Last Truth?
Flavia Company: I wanted to explain the two main ways of understanding life and the world around us: give or receive. One way leads to peace. The other way leads to war. I thought I would represent this struggle by the encounter and confrontation of two different men on a deserted island.
IFOA: What part of fiction writing do you find most compelling?
Company: Writing is a way of life. A belief. A moral duty. One lot and one conviction. I feel fortunate to have been chosen for this way, and never forget that it is to be as honest as possible, as humble as possible, as grateful as possible. Writing is living life from within and outside at the same time.
IFOA: How has your approach to writing changed over the years?Company: I used to write for myself. Now I have learned to write for others. I mean I used to write absorbed and now I am well aware that I make my exploration to offer it to others.
IFOA: If you could have lunch with one author, alive or dead, who would it be?
Company: The Brazilian Clarice Lispector. And Marguerite Yourcenar too. May I choose two authors?
IFOA: Is there a book you’ve read recently that you can recommend to our readers?
Company: Of course. I just reread the complete short stories of Flannery O’Connor. Amazing author. Put her on my lunch with dead authors too, please!
Flavia Company is a writer, journalist and translator who writes in both Catalan and Spanish. She has worked as a literary critic, a teacher at literary workshops and a presenter for television. She is the author of essays, short stories, poetry and novels, for which she won the Documenta Award and been a finalist for the Rómulo Gallegos Award. Her work has been translated in many countries, including Brazil, France, Germany and Holland. Company presents The Island of Last Truth, a story of many mysteries, principal among them the true identity of the enigmatic Dr. Matthew Prendel, a shipwrecked expert sailor.
