The life and work of Luis Garcia Montero has always been closely linked to Grenade and at his university. But also to the one who was his life partner, Almudena Grandes. So, by applying some sort of transitive property, … What belongs to the first (the writer) is linked to the second (the city and the institution) and everything above, to the third (the author).
It is therefore entirely logical that the University of Granada received this Wednesday, December 10, the literary legacy of Almudena Grandes and Luis García Montero, a gift “from enormous heritage and scientific relevance“which makes the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters “an international reference for the study of contemporary literary creation”.
As specified by the university organization, the collection brings together manuscripts, exercise books, correspondence, digital files, first editions, photographs and personal documents of the two authors, fundamental for research in genetic criticism, cultural history and current literature studies.
With this donation, the University of Granada reaffirms its commitment to the preservation of cultural memory and consolidates the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters “as a strategic center for the study of 21st century Spanish language literature“.
A library in your name
In recognition of the career of Luis García Montero and his close ties with the University of Granada, the library of the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters will be renamed the Luis García Montero Library. The plaque unveiling ceremony took place during an institutional event during which the rector, Pedro Market; Ana Gallego Cuinasdean of the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters, and Esteban Lopez Garciadirector of the Library of Philosophy and Letters.
Luis García Montero, poet and professor at the UGR, expressed his deep gratitude and emotional connection with Granada and the place where he studied 50 years ago, and also indicated that he was “very grateful that the memory of my work, my letters, manuscripts, signed books and photographs are preserved here in a donation process that will gradually be completed.
In this same act, the first deposit of the fund was made official, with the delivery of two portraits of Almudena Grandes and Luis García Montero himself, made by the famous Granadan artist. Juan Vidawhich will be integrated into the future exhibition room of the “Literary Creativity Fund” of the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters, currently under development.
The fund, which will be subject to a process of cataloging, digitization and research activation, will promote specialized consultation area and a scholarship program for young national and international researchers.
García Montero did not make any controversial statements this time and his only allusion to politics had a personal tone: “I have just turned 67, I am director of the Cervantes Institute and since 2018 I no longer teach, but my hope is, before retiring, to return to the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters. I hope that this mandate lasts until 2027 and I will be very proud as director of the Cervantes Institute, but even if the government I want wins the elections“I have already said that I prefer to retire as a professor at the University of Granada, that is why I will be here,” he said.
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