Galán, Juan Eslava 1948- (Nicholas Wilcox)
Galán, Juan Eslava 1948- (Nicholas Wilcox)
PERSONAL:
Education: Granada University, Spain, Ph.D.; attended University of Ashton, Birmingham, England.
CAREER:
Educator and author. University of Ashton, Birmingham, England, former assistant professor; taught high school for thirty years in Spain.
AWARDS, HONORS:
Premio Planeta, Grupo Planeta, and Premio Chianti Rufino Enrico Fattore for the Italian translation, both 1987, both for En Busca del Unicornio; Premio Ateneo de Sevilla, 1994, for El comedido hidalgo; Fernando Lara Novel Prize, Grupo Planeta, and Premio de la Crítica Andaluza, both 1998, both for Señorita; recipient of Medalla de Plata de Andalucí.
WRITINGS:
Jofra, M. Plaza Minaya (Marmolejo, Spain), 1975.
La leyenda del Lagarto de la Malena y los mitos del dragón, Monte de Piedad y Caja de Ahorros de Córdoba (Córdoba, Spain), 1980, revised edition, Universidad de Granada (Granada, Spain), 1991.
Leyendas de los castillos de Jaén, Caja Rural Provincial (Jaén, Spain), 1981.
Cinco tratados españoles de alquimia, Tecnos (Madrid, Spain), 1987.
Escuela y prisiones de Vicentito González, J. Eslava Galá (Jaén, Spain), 1987.
En busca del unicornio (title means "In Search of the Unicorn"), Planeta (Barcelona, Spain), 1988.
Yo, Aníbal, Planeta (Barcelona, Spain), 1988.
Castillos y atalayas del Reino de Jaén: Nuevo álbum de dibujos, Riquelme y Vargas Ediciones (Jaén, Spain), 1989.
Roma de los Césares, Planeta (Barcelona, Spain), 1989.
El fin del milenio, Planeta (Barcelona, Spain), 1990.
Cuentos crueles, Universidad de Granada (Granada, Spain), 1990.
Guadalquivir, Planeta (Barcelona, Spain), 1990.
El Mercedes del Obispo y otros relatos edificantes, Diputación Provincial de Jaén (Jaén, Spain), 1990.
Tu magistral amor: Novela naïf, Ediciones A. Ubago (Granada, Spain), 1990.
Catedral, Planeta (Barcelona, Spain), 1991.
Historia secreta del sexo en España, Temas de Hoy (Madrid, Spain), 1991.
Verdugos y torturadores, Temas de Hoy (Madrid, Spain), 1991.
El viaje de Tobías, Caja General de Ahorros de Granada (Granada, Spain), 1991.
Yo, Nerón, Planeta (Barcelona, Spain), 1991.
El enigma de Colón y los descubrimientos de América, Planeta (Barcelona, Spain), 1992.
Historias de la Inquisición, Planeta (Barcelona, Spain), 1992.
Los Templarios y otros enigmas Medievales, Planeta (Barcelona, Spain), 1992.
Cleopatra, la serpiente del Nilo, Planeta (Barcelona, Spain), 1993.
El sexo de nuestros padres, Planeta (Barcelona, Spain), 1993.
El comedido hidalgo (title means "The Restrained Hidalgo"), Planeta (Barcelona, Spain), 1994.
Grandes Batallas de la historia de España, Planeta (Barcelona, Spain), 1994.
Tartessos y otros enigmas de la historia, Planeta (Barcelona, Spain), 1994.
La historia de España contada para escépticos, Planeta (Barcelona, Spain), 1995.
Statio Orbis, Planeta (Barcelona, Spain), 1995.
Los Reyes Católicos, Planeta (Barcelona, Spain), 1996.
La vida amorosa en Roma, Temas de Hoy (Madrid, Spain), 1996.
Amor y sexo en la antigua Grecia, Temas de Hoy (Madrid, Spain), 1997.
Coitus interruptus: La represión sexual y sus heroicos alivios en la España Franquista, Planeta (Barcelona, Spain), 1997.
La España de las Libertades, Espasa (Madrid, Spain), 1997.
La España del 98: El fin de una era, Edaf (Madrid, Spain), 1997.
El fraude de la Sábana Santa y las reliquias de Cristo, Planeta (Barcelona, Spain), 1997.
Paradores históricos, Lunwerg (Barcelona, Spain), 1997.
Los Templarios y otros enigmas medievales, Planeta (Barcelona, Spain), 1997.
El enigma de la mesa de Salomón, Ediciones Osuna (Armilla, Spain), 1998.
Leyendas de los castillos de Jaén, Ediciones Osuna (Armilla, Spain), 1998.
Seniorita, Planeta (Barcelona, Spain), 1998.
Los castillos de Jaén, Ediciones Osuna (Armilla, Spain), 1999.
Otro Jaén, Ediciones Osuna (Armilla, Spain), 1999.
Tumbaollas y hambrientos, Plaza & Janés Editores (Barcelona, Spain), 1999.
Las rutas del olivo: Masaru en el Olivar, Soproarga (Jaén Spain), 2000.
Santos y pecadores: Álbum de recuerdos de los españolitos del Siglo XX, Planeta (Barcelona, Spain), 2002.
Las rutas de la gastronomía en Andalucía, Fundación José Manuel Lara (Sevilla, Spain), 2003.
La muerte de la abuela, Ediciones Témpora (Madrid, Spain), 2003.
La mula (novel), Planeta (Barcelona, Spain), 2003, translation by Lisa Dillman published as The Mule, Bantam Books (New York, NY), 2008.
Los dientes del Dragón, Devir (Barcelona, Spain), 2004.
Los iberos: Los españoles como fuimos, MR Ediciones (Barcelona, Spain), 2004.
El Paraíso disputado: Ruta de los castillos y las batallas, El País-Aguilar (Madrid, Spain), 2004.
Una historia de la Guerra Civil que no va a gustar a nadie, Planeta (Barcelona, Spain), 2005.
España insólita y misteriosa: Un viaje por la España de la Brujería, las leyendas y los tesoros ocultos, Editorial Planeta (Barcelona, Spain), 2006.
Viaje a la Costa de las Ballenas: Una excursión en el transcantábrico, Imagineediciones (Madrid, Spain), 2006.
Viaje a los escenarios del Capitán Alatriste, Aguilar (Madrid, Spain), 2006.
El mercenario de Granada, Planeta (Barcelona, Spain), 2007.
Califas, guerreros, esclavas y eunucos: Los moros en españa, Editorial Espasa Calpe (Pozuelo de Alarcón), 2008.
"TEMPLAR" SERIES; HISTORICAL FICTION; UNDER PSEUDONYM NICHOLAS WILCOX
Los falsos peregrinos (title means "The False Pilgrim"), Planeta (Barcelona, Spain), 1985.
Las trompetas de Jericó (title means "The Trumpets of Jericho"), Planeta (Barcelona, Spain), 1985.
La lápida templaria (title means "The Templar Tombstone"), Planeta (Barcelona, Spain), 1996.
Los templarios y la mesa de Salomon (title means "The Templars and Solomon's Table), Planeta (Barcelona, Spain), 2006.
SIDELIGHTS:
Juan Eslava Galán is the author of more than fifty books, including novels, nonfiction, and, under the name Nicholas Wilcox, works of historical fiction. His books have been translated into many European languages, and he himself has translated the poetry of T.S. Eliot into Spanish. Born in Andalusia, Spain, in 1948, Galán received a doctorate in literature with a thesis on medieval history from Granada University. He continued his studies at the University of Ashton in Birmingham, England, where he also taught as an assistant professor. Returning to Spain, he began a thirty-year career as a high school teacher. He has received many awards, including the prestigious Premio Planeta award for En busca del unicornio (the title means "In Search of the Unicorn") in 1987; the Premio Ateneo de Sevilla for El comedido hidalgo (the title means "The Restrained Hidalgo") in 1994; and the Fernando Lara Novel Prize for Señorita in 1998. His historical fiction books as Nicholas Wilcox, which are part of the "Templar" series, include La lápida templaria (the title means "The Templar Tombstone"), Los falsos peregrinos (the title means "The False Pilgrim"), Las trompetas de Jericó (the title means "The Trumpets of Jericho"), and Los templarios y la mesa de Salomon (the title means "The Templars and Solomon's Table"). The Mule, originally published in Spanish as La mula, was his first book to be translated into English. Published in 2007, the novel is set during the Spanish Civil War and follows the adventures of Juan Castro Perez, a mule driver who forms a close bond with a stray mule he names Valentina. Castro supports the nationalists in the war, but is forced to fight on the side of the communists. He manages to defect, but soon stumbles unarmed into a group of communist soldiers. Castro believes his end is near until the soldiers demand, at gunpoint, that he take them as prisoners of war in order to ensure their survival. After a journalist finds out about the incident, Castro becomes famous. All the reluctant hero really wants to do, though, is get back to his family with his mule. But it is not to be. Lawrence Olszewski, writing in the Library Journal, noted that the novel is an "often bitterly humorous and satiric tale." Despite the humor, Olszewski found that "the novel's overall theme is loss…. " According to a review in Publishers Weekly, "Castro's dedication to Valentina provides the heartfelt through line to this winsome war story and adds a dose of heartbreak at the novel's close." A reviewer in Kirkus Reviews concluded, "Galan's portrait of war's brutality and absurdity echoes both Hemingway and Heller, but he gives the narrative his own cynical and idiosyncratic spin."
BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:
PERIODICALS
Kirkus Reviews, December 15, 2007, review of The Mule.
Library Journal, February 1, 2008, Lawrence Olszewski, review of The Mule, p. 62.
Publishers Weekly, December 24, 2007, review of The Mule, p. 30.
ONLINE
Fantastic Fiction Web site,http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/ (August 25, 2008), author profile and bibliography.
Juan Eslava Galán Home Page,http://www.juaneslavagalan.com (August 25, 2008), author profile.
Random House Web site,http://www.randomhouse.com/ (August 25, 2008), author profile.