Wenling's: A transcultural salon
In celebration of the Cervantes Week, we are presenting at the Cork World Book Fest, a conversation with author Gemma Ruiz and the English translator of her book Donde Wenling (Wenling's), Peter Bush.
A female space par excellence, Wenling's salon becomes the crossroad for a myriad of women's stories. From the unique perspective of a female documentary producer, we learn about the history of the salons in the US and Europe, migration waves from the East to the West and gender relationships across cultures.
Novelist and journalist Gemma Ruiz Palà will talk about the inspiration behind this and other recent projects, including the acclaimed Argelagues (2016), on 20th century rural to urban migration, and Les nostres mares (Our mothers, 2022) on the generations of women brought up under the Franco dictatorship. Together with Peter Bush, they will read and reflect on sections of Ca la Wenling (2020, translated as Wenling’s for Heloise Press in 2023), bringing out the hospitality, intimacy and humour of this multilingual and transcultural space.