--- I usually order Albariño, but here I'll have a white from Penedés.
The Barcelona writer Laura Balagué has arrived at the Bar as the morning is in its final stages. In the street, a damp cold prevails, pushing passersby to seek refuge, and it seems the writer has brought it from San Sebastián, where she has lived for years, although she does not lose her emotional connection with the city where she was born and grew up.
"I am a nurse who writes or a writer who has worked as a nurse. I am from Barcelona, but I am very Donostiarra. I like stories: telling them and having them told to me. I suppose that made me write and above all it's what makes me a reader. I could live without writing, but not without reading," she explains while savoring her glass of Abadia de Poblet and in the background her admired Silvia Pérez Cruz plays.
Laura Balagué has just published her fifth novel, which is also the fourth in the series starring Ertzaintza officer Carmen Arregui, Una investigación laica (Cosecha Negra) in which "Arregui and her team will solve a crime in the province of Burgos."
It may all have started in 2000, when she won second prize in the XI Atenea Short Story Contest, but she didn't debut as a novelist until 2008 with Vestidos de novia which, for the regular, was "a very important step" in her career. Winning the La Trama prize with her next book, Las pequeñas mentiras, in 2014, was what finally gave her "a strong push" to take writing seriously. A practice that has also seen her venture into the field of young adult books with La casa inquieta.
Seeking and finding vocations
Initially, Laura found it difficult to find her path and, to walk it, she had to overcome many fears and uncertainties. "I had no vocation, I had started Psychology and Philosophy and I was more lost than an octopus in a garage. In the end, and until the last day, I hesitated between the school of translators and interpreters and Nursing. And it was a success, I have loved my profession, although I usually always like what I do and I think I would have enjoyed other options too" she argues, putting the caveat on a schedule that, for many years, was nocturnal "against my early-rising nature."
As a nurse, and among many other tasks, Laura Balagué led smoking cessation groups at her health center. "It was a good system to, after quitting after smoking for many years, not relapse."
Initially, Laura found it difficult to find her way and, to travel it, she had to overcome not a few fears and uncertainties.Another vocation he would discover is that of being a Donostiarra."Going to San Sebastián at 23 was also a decisive point, I had to face many problems and in some way it made me grow." However, she is clear that "the most important part of my life was meeting my husband and having two fantastic children."
--- And how did you take the step into writing? How did you go from loving to be told stories to being the one who tells them?
--- Enrolling in some Creative Writing courses allowed me to delve into this hobby. I feel proud to have had enough perseverance and patience to continue in this difficult world of writing.
Spring in Barcelona
As a good adopted Donostiarra, Laura Balagué asks to accompany her next glass of wine with some portions and, to taste them in the optimal conditions determined by a palate with an advanced level of education like hers, she asks for some spicy dressing. Then she resumes speaking.
"I still have a strong emotional connection with this city. The first years of life mark a lot and I also have an aunt, siblings, nephews and many friends here." Affections that she tries by all means not to lose. "You have to make a great effort not to erase important people from your life. And, sometimes, this can be a tough city where it's easy to feel alone."
"You have to make a great effort not to erase important people from your life. And, sometimes, this can be a tough city where it's easy to feel alone"--- Hey, and living in San Sebastián, and beyond family and close friends, what do you miss most about Barcelona?
"I still miss Barcelona's spring. In San Sebastián, it's usually a rainy season that doesn't allow you to enjoy the increasingly longer days. I have very good memories of Sant Jordi's day, the Sant Ponç fair, and Sant Joan's night. Those bright and mild days when you don't want to go inside are wonderful," she replies with a touch of longing.
--- Well, that can be solved by coming here more often!
Then Laura Balagué offers a smile as if to say you won't catch me there and replies:
--- Precisely, now that I'm retired and have time, my next project is to come to the next edition of BCNegra and spend the whole week enjoying the tables and the atmosphere.
And, immediately after, she attacks the freshly served portion to subject it to her strict gastronomic scrutiny.
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