October 2012. The writer Javier Marías crosses the Ramón Gómez de la Serna room of the Círculo de Bellas Artes de Madrid to deliver a press conference called by himself, a few hours before. He wore a blue jacket, to the buttonhole of which he had pinned, as always, this rare and tiny enamel cameo representing a portrait of Shakespeare. The writer was awarded the National Prize for Fiction for a few hours: the time it took the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports to grant it to him and for him to refuse it. “It’s about consistency,” he read from a four-paragraph statement. Then he was very clear: he would not accept anything that came from a state institution. “Call it an invitation, a reward, a position or whatever”… See more
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