Biography
Luís Rei Núñez is a well-established Galician writer and journalist. His works have received major Galician literary prizes: the Xerais for novels (The Artieda File), the Spanish Critics’ Award (Mr Lugrís and the Black Shadow) and the Blanco Amor for long novels (Mount Louro). His novels The Artieda File, Mr Lugrís and the Black Shadow and Appointment in Fisterra have all been translated into Spanish. He has published several collections of poetry. His works of non-fiction include an exhaustive biography of one of Galicia’s greatest writers, Rafael Dieste, and a travelogue on the Costa da Morte, Galicia’s Death Coast. In 2015, he was elected city councillor in Pontevedra for Marea Pontevedra. He worked for Galician TV for more than thirty years.
Synopsis
The Artieda File (232 pages) is Luís Rei Núñez’s third work of fiction and won him the prestigious Xerais Award in the year 2000. The book is divided into 45 short chapters, which are not numbered or titled. The action takes place in Coruña. The Madrid Express has just pulled into the station.
Sample
We heard the roar of a herd of bison, but none of us batted an eyelid: it’s always the same when the Madrid Express comes in. The railway station is very near, and the whole district adjusts its clocks – more or less accurately – according to Renfe’s earthquake chart.
“It’s seven o’clock,” says Odilo, butting in on Mungo, a customer who used the afternoon to come and do some passport photos.
In a quarter of an hour, the Northern goods train, which normally registers a much lower intensity, will depart, but this arrival just now is still shaking the rolls of film that invade the shelves in the display case. It’s a tip from the locomotive, which carries on coughing and spluttering at the platform for a while.
Portico of Galician Literature 