A plague of solitude

Catalan writer Eva Baltasar’s latest novel, Ocàs i fascinació (Twilight and Fascination) follows a nameless woman who works as a cleaner after graduating from university. Baltasar’s protagonists are often isolated women, the product of a society that increasingly generates disconnected individuals and promotes individualism. At this year’s Festivaletteratura in Mantova, Italy, Baltasar and Italian poet Silvia Righi dissected the themes running through her work, which includes several volumes of poetry and an International Booker shortlisted novel.

Ocàs i fascinació draws on Baltasar’s own experience as a cleaner during university. Working in someone’s home offers a unique glimpse their private life; objects and everyday spaces often expose hidden secrets. For a curious and “hungry” writer, these details were an invitation to imagine the stories lying behind them. Home is very present in Baltasar’s novels, however, instead of representing comfort, stability and family, it becomes a confining space, almost a prison. Baltasar tends to move constantly from one place to another, describing herself as something of a nomad. Her characters often share this sense of displacement, unable or unwilling to settle permanently.

The predominance of female characters in Baltasar’s work also stems from her own experience. Growing up in a matriarchal environment, women represented a powerful presence and men remained somewhat on the periphery. As a result, women have always been a natural presence in her writing and emerge organically as the protagonists of her stories. Writing novels, allowed her to discover new women outside her own experience, who became, in a sense, new companions.

The transition from poetry to narrative came as a natural evolution, rather than a radical change. Baltasar’s early poetry was centred on the first person, intimate and confessional, an “I” constantly looking inward. Novels brought the possibility of stepping outside that self and entering into the experiences of others. Characters in a novel can explore forms of discomfort that might otherwise be difficult to express.