Portal de Turismo de Castilla y León

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November 20, 2025

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Commissioned by the Castilian and Leonese Institute of Language, José Ignacio García focuses his attention on those essential and mature writers who, far from being forgotten, inhabit the land of all self-respecting readers, and whose words distill the pure essence of quality literature, regardless of whether they have been recognized with prestigious awards or whether their work enjoys the favor of major publishing houses.
These authors are essential and indispensable, in some cases because of their long and recognized career, in others because of what their vast background contributes to the ethnography and culture of their land, some more because they have made the story (or the tale) their impregnable bastion and there is even one whose publication quality has served to place him in the novelistic Olympus, taking him away for a few moments from his poetic prestige.

These nine essential writers, with their birthplace and current residence, are:

• Jesús Carazo (Burgos, 1944 / Bordeaux / Burgos)
• Ignacio Sanz (Lastras de Cuéllar, 1953 / Segovia)
• Gregorio Fernández Castañón (Otero de Curueño, 1956 / Leon)
• Luis Marigómez (Nava de la Asunción, 1957 / Valladolid)
• Yolanda Izard (Béjar, 1959 / Valladolid)
• Luis García Jambrina (Zamora, 1960 / Salamanca)
• Ramón García Mateos (Salamanca, 1960 / Cambrils)
• Victoria Pelayo Rapado (Zamora, 1960 / Cáceres)
• Gonzalo Calcedo (Palencia, 1961 / Santander)

José Ignacio García (San Sebastián, 1965). Writer, editor, literary critic, anthologist, and cultural manager. He is the author of the short story collections *Me cuesta tanto decir te quiero* (It's So Hard for Me to Say I Love You), *Vidas insatisfechas* (Unsatisfied Lives), *Entre el porvenir y la nada* (Between the Future and Nothingness) (winner of the Miguel Delibes Narrative Prize, 2009), * La sonrisa del náufrago* (The Shipwrecked Man's Smile), *El secreto de su nombre* (The Secret of His Name ) (translated into English), *El cuento que quisiera escribir contigo* (The Story I'd Like to Write with You), *Algunas historias no sirve para escribir canciones de amor* (Some Stories Aren't Good for Writing Love Songs), *La memoria de los crisantemos* (The Memory of Chrysanthemums), and *Donde siempre es invierno* (Where It's Always Winter). He is also the author of the novella *Mi vida, a tu nombre* (My Life, in Your Name ). His short works have won numerous national and international literary awards and appear in magazines and anthologies. Founder of the cultural project * Contamos la Navidad* (We Tell Christmas ) (winner of the La Armonía de las Letras Cultural Recognition Award, 2015), he coordinated its fourteen editions. as well as several collective anthologies, including Valladolid sobre ruedas (Valladolid on Wheels) and Cuentos Pendientes, 43 voces del cuento castellano y leonés del siglo XXI (Pending Stories, 43 Voices of the Castilian and Leonese Short Story of the 21st Century ), already considered in some universities as a benchmark and subject of study on contemporary Castilian and Leonese short stories. As a cultural promoter, he coordinates the Cuéntame Portillo International Short Story Competition, the José Luis Salvador Memorial , and organizes the Valladolid book fairs of Medina del Campo and Portillo. In his role as a literary critic, he is a frequent lecturer and contributes to esRadio, ABC, and La Nueva Crónica de Leon. One of his best reviews published to date in both newspapers appeared in 2023 in the book Veintiséis soldaditos de plomo (Twenty-Six Tin Soldiers).
In April 2025, his first full-length novel, The Flight of the Dolphins, was published.
He is a member of the jury for the Castilla y León Critics' Prize.