Mercedes Cebrián Explained

Mercedes Cebrián
Birth Name:	Mercedes Cebrián Coello
Birth Date:	29 May 1971
Birth Place:	Madrid, Spain
Occupation:	Writer, translator
Alma Mater:	University of Pennsylvania

Mercedes Cebrián (born 29 May 1971) is a Spanish writer and translator.

Biography

Mercedes Cebrián holds a licentiate in Information Sciences from the Complutense University of Madrid, a master's degree in Hispanic Cultural Studies from Birkbeck, University of London, and one in Hispanic Studies from the University of Pennsylvania.

She was a literary creation scholar at the Residencia de Estudiantes of Madrid from 2002 to 2004^[1] and of Ledig House (Hudson, New York), the Spanish Academy in Rome, the Civitella Ranieri Foundation (Italy), the Valparaíso Foundation (Spain), and the Santa Maddalena Foundation (Italy).^[2]

She has written for various media outlets, such as the La Vanguardia supplement Culturas, Babelia and El Viajero of El País, and her texts have appeared in the literary magazines Turia, , Gatopardo, Revista de Occidente, and Letras Libres, as well as Columbia University's Circumference. She has been a columnist for the newspaper Público.

Cebrián began her writing career with prose, but in the first half of the 2000s she also opted for poetry. In this regard, the author explains:

Her book of short stories and poems El malestar al alcance de todos was published in 2004.

After the publication of La nueva taxidermia, a book that brings together two novellas, from El Cultural commented:

Mercedes Cebrián has been associated with the Nocilla Generation,^[3] an evaluation with which she does not agree, although she recognizes that with her "there are points of intersection, such as an interest in talking about the contemporary world."

In 2017 the translator and professor Yolanda Morató accused Mercedes Cebrián and of the plagiarism of her translation and edition of Georges Perec's (as Me acuerdo). Cebrián denied this outright.^[4] She also refused to accept mediation from the Association of Translators, which offered to work out a ruling on the alleged plagiarism if both parties accepted its arbitration.^[5] The controversy had an impact on social networks and websites,^[6] in cultural journals (such as El Cultural and Estado Crítico),^{[7] [8]} and in the press itself, as well as in translation trade publications, such as that of the Literary Translators Club of Buenos Aires, with input from Jorge Fondebrider.

Publications

• El malestar al alcance de todos, stories and poems, Caballo de Troya, Madrid, 2004,
• Mercado común, poems, Caballo de Troya, Madrid, 2006,
• 13 viajes in vitro, chronicles, Blur Ediciones, Madrid, 2008,
• Cul-de-sac, short stories, Alpha Decay, Barcelona, 2009
• La nueva taxidermia, Mondadori, Barcelona 2011, ; containing two novellas:
  • Qué inmortal he sido and Voz de dar malas noticias
• Oremos por nuestros pasaportes, anthology, Mondadori Argentina, Buenos Aires, 2012; containing: El malestar al alcance de todos, Mercado común, La nueva taxidermia, and an assorted "bonus track",
• El genuino sabor, novel, Literatura Random House, Barcelona, 2014,
• Verano azul: unas vacaciones en el corazón de la transición, essay, Alpha Decay, Barcelona, 2016,
• Malgastar, poetry, La Bella Varsovia, 2016,

As editor

• Madrid, con perdón, anthology of texts about Madrid; Caballo de Troya, 2012,

Translations

• 2008 – The Architecture of Happiness, by Alain de Botton (Lumen)
• 2008 – , by Georges Perec (Impedimenta)
• 2009 – A Man Asleep, by Georges Perec (Impedimenta)
• 2010 – , by Georges Perec (Impedimenta)
• 2011 – Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, by Alan Sillitoe (Impedimenta)
• 2011 – It Chooses You, by Miranda July (Seix Barral)
• 2012 – The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner, by Alan Sillitoe; prologue by Kiko Amat (Impedimenta)
• 2013 – The Universe Versus Alex Woods, by Gavin Extence (Seix Barral)
• 2013 – Y revenir, by Dominique Ané (Alpha Decay)
• 2013 – Sempre Susan, by Sigrid Nunez (Errata Naturae)
• 2017 – , by Georges Perec (Impedimenta)^[9]

Notes and References

1. Book: Memoria de actividades . . 186 . Spanish . 2017 . 13 November 2018.
2. Web site: Mercedes Cebrián . Santa Maddalena Foundation . 13 November 2018.
3. Conversación con Mercedes Cebrián: 'Los objetos hablan de nosotros' . Conversation with Mercedes Cebrián: 'The Objects Speak of Us' . Patricio . Pron . . Spanish . 13 November 2018.
4. News: Yolanda Morató reprocha a Impedimenta y Mercedes Cebrián un supuesto plagio en la traducción de 'Me acuerdo', de Perec . Yolanda Morató Reproaches Impedimenta and Mercedes Cebrián for Alleged Plagiarism in the Translation of 'Je me souviens', by Perec . Luis . Alemany . . Spanish . 11 March 2017 . 13 November 2018.
5. News: Una traductora acusa a Impedimenta y Mercedes Cebrián de plagio en el libro 'Me acuerdo', de Georges Perec . A Translator Accused Impedimenta and Mercedes Cebrián of Plagiarism of the Book 'Je me souviens', by Georges Perec . Eduardo . Blanco . . Madrid . Spanish . 1 March 2017 . 13 November 2018.
6. ¿Es imposible traducir dos veces (exactamente) el mismo libro? . Is it Impossible to (Exactly) Translate the Same Book Twice? . Xaime . Martínez . PlayGround . Spanish . 17 February 2017 . 13 November 2018.
7. El viajante . The Traveler . Juan . Palomo . El Cultural . Spanish . 10 February 2017 . 13 November 2018.
8. Me acuerdo de 'El Rincón del Vago' . Fran G. . Matute . Estado Crítico . Spanish . 6 February 2017 . 13 November 2018.
9. News: La editorial Impedimenta publica nueva traducción de 'Me acuerdo', de Perec . The Publishing House Impedimenta Releases New Translation of 'Je me souviens' . . EFE . Madrid . Spanish . 19 January 2017 . 13 November 2018.