Colm Tóibín and Jordi Puntí

Colm Tóibín, is one of Ireland’s most important literary figures today. He is a writer of insatiable curiosity that has led him to write novels, stories, poetry, writing librettos for operas, and also film scripts. The Magician (published in Catalan and Spanish by Amsterdam / Lumen, 2022), is his last book, a fictionalised biography of Thomas Mann, author of The Magic Mountain. In this work, Tóibín explores Mann’s life during the rise of Nazism and also his secrets, especially his homosexual desires, which he kept hidden all his life.

Colm Tóibín speaks with the writer Jordi Puntí about the art of fictionalising the lives of artists, discussing the main challenges and dilemmas that arise in the task of reconstructing a life in fiction. He will also talk about his long relationship with Catalonia, where he has set some of his most memorable stories.

 

Colm Tóibín will also participate in the event A memory exercise through music that will take place at Palau de la Música Catalana on 30 June at 7pm.