The Royal Spanish Academy is Spain's official royal institution with a mission to ensure the stability of the Spanish language. It is based in Madrid, Spain, but is affiliated with national language academies in 22 other hispanophone nations through the Association of Academies of the Spanish Language. The RAE's emblem is a fiery crucible, and its motto is Limpia, fija y da esplendor.
The European dragon is a legendary creature in folklore and mythology among the overlapping cultures of Europe.
Gregory Rabassa, ComM, was an American literary translator from Spanish and Portuguese to English. He taught for many years at Columbia University and Queens College.
Spanish was the official language of the Philippines from the beginning of Spanish rule in the late 16th century, through the conclusion of the Spanish–American War in 1898 and remained co-official, along with English, until 1987. It was at first removed in 1973 by a constitutional change, but after a few months it was re-designated an official language by presidential decree and remained official until 1987, with the present Constitution re-designating it instead as an "optional and voluntary language".
La Oreja de Van Gogh is a Spanish pop band from Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain. The band's lyrics and compositions are written primarily by Xabi San Martín, and additionally by Pablo Benegas and Amaia Montero. The lyrical themes of their songs typically include love, friendship and relationships. Since their debut, they have sold more than 8 million albums worldwide.
Javier Marías is a Spanish novelist, translator, and columnist. Marías has published fifteen novels, including A Heart So White and Tomorrow in the Battle Think on Me. In addition to his novels, he has published three collections of short stories and various essays. As one of Spain's most celebrated novelists, his work has been translated into forty-four languages and has sold over eight and a half million copies internationally. He has received several awards for his work, such as the Rómulo Gallegos Prize (1994), the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award (1997), and the Austrian State Prize for European Literature (2011).
Thierry Jonquet was a French writer who specialised in crime novels with political themes. He was born in Paris; his most recent and best known novel outside France was Mygale (1984), then published in the US in 2003 by City Lights. Mygale was also published in the UK as Tarantula in 2005. He wrote over 20 novels in French, including Le bal des débris, Moloch and Rouge c'est la vie.
Guapa is the fourth studio album released on April 25, 2006, by Spanish Pop rock band La Oreja de Van Gogh. On December 5, 2006, Más Guapa was released exclusively in Spain and Mexico. Two months later, on February 13, 2007, the album was also released in Chile. Más Guapa includes a second disc of previously unreleased material from the Guapa sessions, as well as from recording sessions of previous albums. The album won a Latin Grammy Award for Best Pop Album By a Duo or Group. Guapa is the band's last album with Amaia Montero as lead singer.
"Muñeca de trapo" is the first single from the fourth studio album of La Oreja de Van Gogh, Guapa. The song is known for its heavy sound, strong beat, and surging guitars. Its lyrics, in comparison to other songs by the band, deal with a more serious theme, in which a disregarded woman compares herself to a rag doll when she cannot express her feelings for her loved one, even though she loves him deeply, claiming "eres todo lo que mas quiero, pero te pierdo en mis silencios".
Never Trust a Pretty Face is the third studio album by French singer Amanda Lear, released by the West German label Ariola Records in 1979. The album included notable hit singles "The Sphinx" and "Fashion Pack ", and turned out a commercial and critical success.
Las Dos Caras de Ana is a Mexican telenovela produced by Televisa and Fonovideo that debuted in 2006 starring Ana Layevska and Rafael Amaya as the protagonists and Mauricio Aspe, Alexa Damian, Leonardo Daniel and Alexandra Graña as the main villains of the story. The telenovela was made, filmed and set in Miami, Florida. The title is a play upon the phrase "las dos caras de Jano".
Alain Mabanckou is a novelist, journalist, poet, and academic, a French citizen born in the Republic of the Congo, he is currently a Professor of Literature at UCLA. He is best known for his novels and non-fiction writing depicting the experience of contemporary Africa and the African diaspora in France. He is among the best known and most successful writers in the French language and one of the best known African writers in France. In some circles in Paris he is known as the Samuel Beckett of Africa. He is also controversial, and criticized by some African and diaspora writers for stating Africans bear responsibility for their own misfortune. He has argued against the idea that African and Caribbean writers should focus on their local realities in order to serve and express their communities. He further contends that categories such as nation, race, and territory fall short of encapsulating reality and urges writers to create works that deal with issues beyond these subjects.
Federico Andahazi is an Argentine writer and psychologist.
Karla Suárez is a Cuban writer.
"Guapa" is a Latin pop song co-written and performed by the Argentine pop singer-songwriter Diego Torres and released on February 15, 2010, as the first single from his seventh studio album.
Peter R. Bush is an English literary translator. He has translated works from Catalan, French, Spanish and Portuguese to English, including the work of Josep Pla, Joan Sales and Merce Rodoreda.
Juan Carlos Méndez Guédez is a Venezuelan writer born in Barquisimeto, Venezuela in 1967. From an early age, he and his family moved to Caracas, where he lived in the popular area of Los Jardines del Valle, but always kept a close connection with his native hometown. He earned a Bachelor of Arts from the Central University of Venezuela with a thesis on poetry groups "Traffic" and "Guaire". Later he earned a Ph.D. in Hispanic American Literature from the University of Salamanca with a thesis on the Venezuelan writer José Balza.
Bernabé Melendrez, aka "El Gatillero" is a Mexican action film actor and, after his directorial debut in 2012, film director. He is also a singer.
The Tigre Juan Award is a Spanish literary award created in 1977 in honor of the novel Tigre Juan. El curandero de su honra by Ramón Pérez de Ayala. It is awarded to the best narrative work in Spanish published in the preceding year. It has had different sponsors: the founders, the Cervantes Bookstore, the Asturian Center, the City Council of Oviedo (1986–2009) and the Tribuna Ciudadana cultural association.
Patricia de Souza was a Peruvian writer. She was a Spanish translator of the poetry of Michel Leiris and the narrative of Jean Echenoz, she was the author of a dozen novels, including Cuando llegue la noche.
