"Since the pandemic, I write almost every day of my life." The writer and musician Alexandre Escrivà smiles, sitting on the terrace of the Bar, letting the sun and the spring breeze caress him. "Until then, it had been something like a hobby, something that called to me since I was little, but, when everything stopped five years ago and my musical projects were put on hold, I finally got serious and managed to finish my first manuscript."
For this career clarinetist who, above all, defines himself as "someone who tries to be a good person," that interruption of life, to which circumstances led everyone in 2020, was providential to unleash his passion for writing. It is in this field that he confesses to feeling "much freer creatively with respect to music, which, in any case, I also love," he explains over a steaming cup of coffee with milk and a freshly served tomato toast. Bon profit.
He started in music at the age of eight, in his town, Tavernes de la Valldigna, which, like any good Valencian municipality, had a deeply rooted musical tradition. "I chose the clarinet because it was the instrument my cousin, Toni, who was also a musician then, played," explains the local, who considers his teacher, Vicent Alberola, the Frenchman Nicolas Baldeyrou, and the Italian Alessandro Carbonare as great references for the instrument.
Eclectic in his tastes, ranging from Mahler, Ravel, or Debussy, to his admired Pablo Alborán, he always knew that, although the life of a musician implies constant movement, "I didn't want to live outside of Spain." And with that spirit, he landed in Barcelona in 2022. "I took a competitive exam and, since then, I collaborate with the City's Municipal Orchestra." This allows him to travel, but always return to his place of origin. Home.
California and New York from a distance
After that first manuscript completed after answering the call of letters, Alexandre Escrivà began working on his next work, The Last Case of William Parker, which, as a result of a series of very fortunate coincidences, saw the light two years ago. To write that debut, which followed the steps of a serial killer nicknamed 'The Executioner' on the streets of San Francisco, the author established contact with Californian police officers who helped and advised him so that the story would have maximum verisimilitude and manage to transport the reader to the scene of the narrated events.
The process for writing his next novel, El misterio Hannah Larson (Alfaguara), which has just been released, was similar, and for which "I managed to receive advice from a New York prosecutor, which is where the work is set." The story of an old crime, capable of splashing some of the paladins of New York's social elite, comes to light when the journalist who was about to publish a book on the matter savagely commits suicide live on television and a young inspector decides to unravel the tangle of lies, silences, and atrocities surrounding that thirty-year-old murder.
Alexandre still has a lot of rope left, in any case, because besides enjoying the promotion of this new book, he assures he is already working on the next one. "For now, though, I can't reveal much more," he adds cryptically, as he finishes his toast.
The day of books and roses
After more than a year and a half residing in the city, the local clearly states that what he loves most about it is "how Sant Jordi's day is lived in Barcelona, seeing the streets crowded with roses and books and how everyone gives each other literature is undoubtedly what I like most about here."
The overcrowding he likes less is that of tourists who collapse the center and make him miss "the quiet life of my town" a bit, although he is happy to live in Zona Franca, where that mob barely reaches "and where I also park easily," he adds, finishing his coffee.
--- What will make you miss your town less is the gastronomic offer of our Bar, it's already lunchtime and we have tapas, portions, menu, à la carte…
Alexandre Escrivà takes less than a second to choose a menu, to enjoy on the terrace, "here, quietly, while I think about my things." Things that, probably, one could almost bet, will end up in his next novel.