José Ignacio Valenzuela, el chascas
When one hears José Ignacio Valenzuela’s name for the first time, most likely it doesn’t ring a bell; however, this is the name of a Chilean writer of TV series, such as the very popular “Marparaíso” and “Amor a Domicilio” or the more recent “La familia de al Lado”.
José Ignacio – also known as “el chascas” (Spanish term for somebody with lots of curly, messy hair) – has been writing all his life, however, for some unknown reason none of his books had been published in Chile until now. Yesterday, Friday 4th November 2011 Valenzuela finally presented his "Trilogía del Malamor: Hacia el fin del mundo" at the 31st International Book Fair of Santiago.
The plot takes place in the Chilean part of Patagonia and mixes the fiction of some very old stories with modern technology, in search of discovering if the legend of the malamor (bad love) is real.
For about a month and a half the book was the number one bestseller in Mexico – where the book had been presented some time ago already – and although it’s the first work of José Ignacio published in Chile, expectations are high. The author doesn’t have many desires – he’s a very modest man – but he’s happy about presenting his book in his home country, where he has not been living for more than 18 years.
When I asked him if he feels like he has not been recognized enough in Chile he told me vey frankly that never in his life he has expected any kind of appreciation from anywhere. “Why do you need recognition and appreciation for what you are doing? I don’t do what I do to be recognized by others, I do what I do because otherwise I would die”, he states very clearly.
José Ignacio believes in discipline and has achieved a rhythm of publishing one book per year, besides finishing a version of the soap opera “La familia de al Lado” - which he had initially written for Chile – for Telemundo called “La casa de al Lado”.
This very charismatic, modest and straightforward writer has been elected for the award of the 10 best Latin American writers younger than 40 years of 2011, assigned by About.com as well as he also keeps delighting the lovers of the small screen in Chile, being in charge of the script for a new TVN series and finally we also have access to some of his literature material.
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