The Pontifical University of Salamanca presents this Friday, March 28, ‘La cueva de la ballena’, the second novel by Miguel Ángel Rodríguez López, published by the Onuba editorial (Huelva). Admission to the presentation, at 8:00 p.m. in the Aula Pla, will be completely free until full capacity is reached.
The work tells the story of Silvia Losada, a mature and prominent painter, who receives the unexpected visit of a young woman asking about her father, the twin brother of the artist who died decades ago. Told in the first person, Silvia’s account revives memories of those early years with Daniel and his family in their hometown of Galicia, as well as the events of her later life as a student in Salamanca. Gradually, Silvia’s past will become the hidden and forgotten story of her twin brother, whose truth is only partly told.
This novel speaks of guilt and the possibility of redemption, of the fear of growing up, of the complexity of emotional bonds, and of the conflicts we must face when we become aware of the life we are writing. In the words of the author himself, «this novel is also a reflection on identities, on the importance of being oneself through memory.»
Set between Galicia and Salamanca in the seventies and eighties, the book also reveals some curiosities about whale hunting in the Vigo estuary and the university atmosphere in Salamanca at that time.
THE AUTHOR
Miguel Ángel Rodríguez López (1968) is a native of Vigo (Pontevedra). He graduated in Philosophy and Letters from the University of Salamanca. The following year, he received a Third Degree studies scholarship at the Institute of Aesthetics and Theory of the Arts in Madrid, earning a PhD in Philosophy from UAM with a thesis on the concept of the sublime.
He began working as a Philosophy teacher in various secondary schools, first in Extremadura and later in Galicia, a profession he has been practicing ever since. He was the director of the Paradoxa magazine, and is currently a Professor of philosophy and teacher at IES Coruxo.
In collaboration with other authors, he has written several philosophy textbooks for high school and has published various informative articles on aesthetics, art, and literature in magazines such as El Urogallo, Creación, Ágora, Laguna, Iduna, and Apeiron.
He has presented papers and communications at various national and international forums. Regarding his literary production, he won the ‘Juan Valera’ Novel Prize in 2019 for his first work titled Principio final.