PODCAST: Carmen Balcells - the woman behind the Latin American literary boom

Catalan literary agent Carmen Balcells, considered a revolutionary in the publishing industry, was single-handedly responsible for turning it on its head.

Press play below to listen or subscribe on Apple Podcasts, YouTube or Spotify.

She dignified the writing profession by banning lifetime contracts and ensuring that writers could make a living from their craft and negotiate their own terms. 

And through her literary agency, which she founded during the Franco dictatorship in Spain, she played a pivotal role in the Latin American literary boom of the 1960s, discovering and publishing future bestselling authors, such as Gabriel García Márquez and Isabel Allende. 

She passed away in 2015, and August 9th would have been her 94th birthday. 

Cillian Shields joins Lea Beliaeva Bander to celebrate Balcells’ birthday by delving into her life and legacy. 

Maribel Luque, the director of the Carmen Balcells Literary Agency, and Laura Palomares, the granddaughter of Balcells will help us understand who this icon was both personally and professionally. 

Instead of a Catalan phrase, this week we have chosen a quote from the legend herself, who said that “Anyone can write a good first book - it’s in the second novel that writers prove themselves”. 

Get in touch with the podcast team: fillingthesink@acn.cat

Listen to more episodes of Filling the Sink below or find out more here.