10/03/2009
Vitoria-Gasteiz, March 10, 2009 – Tomorrow,
Encounters with the Cathedral, the conference series organised by
Fundación Catedral Santa María, will be featuring Valencian writer
Antonio Penadés. The session, which will begin at 8:00 at Palacio de
Villa Suso and is free of charge, will be entitled Grecia antigua, cuna
de la literatura y de la arquitectura templaria [Ancient Greece, cradle
of literature and temple architecture].
The symposia series sponsored by Fundación Catedral Santa María is
coming down the final stretch before its conclusion on March
31. This week, it is the turn of an author who took ten years
to write his first book, El hombre de Esparta [The man from Espartá],
although literary critics affirm that the result is not to be
regretted, since it has become a frame of reference in the historical
novel.
Born
in Valencia in 1970, Antonio Penadés holds degrees in Computer Science
and Law, in addition to being an expert in Ancient History. His first
incursion into the world of literature was thanks to El hombre de
Esparta, a historical novel published in Spain in 2005 to great success
and in Greece one year later. The work is set in Classical Greece in
the months prior to the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC) and recreates
the clash between Athenians and Spartans. Penadés is also co-author of
a volume of essays on the historical novel that will be published this
year and is currently in the corrections stage of an essay-travelogue
entitled Tras las huellas de Heródoto [On the tracks of Herodotus].
Penadés is also an accomplished teacher and leads a literary workshop
on the historical novel he has been giving at the Valencian Institute
for Classical and Oriental Studies since 2005. He also teaches
literature at the CEU Business School in Valencia and gives symposia
and conferences at primary and secondary schools on Greek civilization
and literature.
Furthermore, Penadés contributes to the written media and the radio,
including several articles for prestigious National Geographic magazine
entitled Guerreros de Esparta. La mejor infantería griega [Warriors of
Sparta. The best Greek infantry] and La batalla de las
Termópilas. La gesta de Leónidas [The battle of Thermopylae. Leonidas’
gesture]. Furthermore, he participates regularly in congresses and
workshops on Antiquity, Classical Studies, the historical novel and
Ancient Greece.
Antonio Penadés’ conference, Grecia antigua, cuna de la
literatura y de la arquitectura templaria, will begin at 8:00 p.m. at
Palacio de Villa Suso. Admission will be free until seating capacity
has been reached, although members of Santa María Cathedral’s Founders
Circle will have priority admission until 7:45 p.m..