Some Thoughts with ... Enric Herce

11 Apr 2023

The Author/s

Enric Herce

Enric Herce

Enric Herce Escarrà (Barcelona, 1972) ha publicado más de una docena de relatos en diversos fanzines y revistas underground. Es autor del libro de ciencia-ficción infantil Friki (Edimáter, 2009) y de la novela de fantasía humorística Ventanitas Manzana (AJEC, 2011). Simulacions de vida (Males Herbes, 2014) su primera novela en catalán, también ha sido publicada en castellano (Wave Books, 2018). Asimismo, ha publicado con Males Herbes Estació Boira (2018) i L'estrany miratge (2021). Su última propuesta es Un bibliotecari de Mart (Chronos, 2022) que junto con Sismes de Sergi G. Oset, dan el pistoletazo de salida a la colección Gatzara.  

The Interview

1.- How did the original idea for Estació Boira appear? 
From two really different factors, as were my daughter's birth and the security against freedom discussion that became more prevalent after ISIS' attacks.

2.- After some years writing, how would you say your writing process has evolved?
Each book is different and it has a different process. Simulacions de vida was a choral novel, and its characters' lives were jigsaw pieces. It was really needed to keep in mind the chronological sequence formed by the different stories and how they were weaved. Estació Boira is a novel with few characters mixing interviews, news, memories, and parts of a personal diary, with two main plots evolving in opposite directions. We get to know Max's personal story backward, meanwhile, the main plot goes forward in a linear way. Anyways, I've always been a compass writer. Having everything perfectly planned feels boring.

3.- Estación Niebla is a novel with a curious format, without chapters and a fragmented timeline. Would you say it was challenging in this kind of format?
I'm really surprised as it is mentioned in many reviews, but there are a lot of books without chapters. Most of the books in Discworld by Terry Prattchet, for example. Another theme is the mosaic structure used in the novel, short fragments that alternate different records, trying to show the bewilderment of Max, its main character. Making it accessible for readers required planning and a good layout in the original.

4.- This novel is an interesting but frightening sight of what the future could be. What would you say inspired you?
It's a classic theme in cyberpunk. Nobody is surprised by the existence of financial conglomerates with enough influence and power to control the agenda of many countries.

5.-Estació Boira won Premi Imperdible 2019 and Premi Ictineu 2019. Did you expect it?
In reality, only the Imperdible, I only was Ictineu finalist. They are two of the most important awards for this genre in catalá, a little bit surprising, but it's always a good encouragement

6.- Could you tell us about how this book was translated into Spanish?
Red Key Books contacted me, because they were interested in the novella. I had it translated because I find it useful for some corrections and to find some nonsense fragments in the original language. Perks of being bilingual.

7.- Could you tell us a little about your other books?
Estació Boira is part of a tryptic, not a trilogy, together with Simulacions de vida and L'estrany Mirage. An expanded cyberpunk universe with some shared characters that show common situations, but they are intended to be independent, so you can read any of them in any order.
My last publication, Un bibliotecari de Mart, is a short novella with a pulp tone, less serious, different from the others.