ERNESTO MALLO LOCKDOWN Q&A from BADALONA, SPAIN

April 2020 

- Where you are currently living and are you needing to self-isolate in your country?

Living in Badalona, 20m miles away from Barcelona. I was eight days  at the hospital due to Covid-19 infection. Now at home, with my wife, confined.

- How are these surreal days influencing your normal writing process?

Days before the outbreak I finished a new novel. The only thing was that I felt I have to write a chapter involving the virus.

- What are the little things that are getting you through this extraordinary time?

Films, TV Series, reading, cooking.

- If you had to isolate yourself with one other writer, who would it be and why?

It would be Margot Robbie, never mind she´s not a writer.

- Which historical writer would you find it difficult to be self-isolating with? And why?

Shakespeare, out of envy.

- Do you have any local stories of kindness or good deeds that you can share?

In Spain, and the rest of Europe you can sense a strong anti-migrant feeling more or less explicit. Almost all the paramedics, cleaning and support personnel are Latin Americans. Dominicans, Mexicans, Argentinians and so on. Working very long hours, for a miserable salary, always a smile behind the mask, always attentive and efficient.

What are you currently reading for pleasure?

I only read for pleasure. Currently The Culture of Fear. by Barry Glassner

- Is there a local dish or comfort food that you are eating more regularly at the moment, to get you through these turbulent times?

My wife and I have made of cooking a kind of sport, being creative and innovating. We cook elaborate dishes that take a long time, something we could not do before.