Voices en Español

Here is a Q&A I did with Chris Al-Aswad, author of Novel of Life: Madrid, Spain.

What should I call you? By your pen name “Lethe Bashar” or by your real name or can I use both?

You can call me by real name:  Chris Al-Aswad.  I use a pen name, which is also the main character of my novel, Lethe Bashar.

Your Madrid novel is autobiographical. Why did you decide to go with a novel treatment instead of a memoir?

I call the genre “autobiographical fiction”.  It is more or less a memoir with poetic license. I’m also a personal essayist and so I work within the memoir form a lot.  My blog of personal essays is The Blog of Innocence.

I choose the novel form so that I may explore the creative boundaries of writing about my life.  Spain is one of three novels that cover my adolescence.  The whole narrative is an epic retelling of adolescence in different locations, and at different time periods.

Yes.  This is a story I have been working on for over ten years, believe it or not.  I continually deepen the characters and go deeper with the story itself.  The only explanation for this is a meticulous love of the craft of fiction.

I would say about 70% of the story actually happened.  But whenever we try to parse reality from fiction, memory from lived experience, we run into major problems.  No representation, including a memoir, will be “the truth.”  Once words are formed about an experience of the past, fiction gets created no matter what.

The Novel of Life is far from finished.  But I approach this work not as a professional novelist but as an amateur and a hobbyist.  I leave it alone for weeks or months and then return to it and work diligently for awhile before I put it down again.

The Madrid section of the novel has one more part yet to be written.  Then the story will resume back on another blog called Lethe in Vegas, which is about what happens after Spain.

This is my first novel.  If there is enough interest, and if I am pleased with the final work, I may publish it.  Most likely, the graphic editions of the work will be published sooner.  An Argentinean illustrator is currently working on the Las Vegas story here.

I was 19 years old when I studied at the International Institute in Madrid in 1999. But I dropped out of school and joined a band of friendly Spaniards. I left my Senora’s house and moved into a pensione, where I wrote fiction and partied a lot. I was living in la Plaza del Sol for approximately one year.

I lived in Chicago for several years.  I was born and raised in Illinois, suburbs of Chicago.  I graduated from DePaul University.  Now I live in Central Illinois.

My favorite chapter is probably “Hashish”; but I don’t know if you want to include that one. I also should tell you that I do a podcast for every chapter on this site.