September ended with the release of my latest book, Ofelia and Norma. Yay! But the month also included an art walk, a film festival, and of course book and writing stuff.

Our self-directed Spanish conversation group, Las Charlatanas, took a walk in the Las Lagunillas barrio just north of the Centro Historico. The neighborhood is known for its murals, graffiti, and other street art. I’d walked through it before, just passing through on my way to an appointment. This time it was a more deliberate exploration and appreciation of the images and colors. Of course, it was preceded by a long lunch in a local restaurant and was followed by first a protracted rest on a shady terrace for cool drinks and then a rooftop bar to cap the day. Here’s an interview in Spanish of members of the neighborhood’s art and cultural center and a look at some of the art. This video shows a lot of the art without commentary. Here are some of the photos I took.

Luisa invited me to attend a talk that was part of the Edad de Oro film festival in Cine Albeniz in the Centro. The talk featured two well-known Spanish film actors, Javier Gutiérrez and Raúl Arévalo, and it was moderated by the film critic Luis Alegre. I understood a lot of the conversation but of course was also lost at times. After the talk, the two actors stepped down from the stage to greet fans and accommodate requests for photos. Luisa suggested we join them. So here I am with Javier Gutiérrez and while Luisa was chatting with Raúl Arévalo, I took the opportunity to snap a photo of them.

There’s a new coffee shop, Garcia Coffee, in my neighborhood and they hosted their first book event recently. Bernie Doorly, an Irish woman who spent many years living in a pueblo outside of Málaga wrote down the stories of the local women. The result is a charming look at local life. The other presenter was David Fernandez, a fifteen-year-old boy who shared his poems of love and life and how he came to write them. Both presenters were articulate and passionate about their work. Both were native English speakers but were fluent in Spanish.

The European Writers Salon held its annual salon in Madrid at the end of September. Three days of activities included a Friday night reading and dinner; a Saturday full of sessions related to writing and editing, capped by a keynote by three prize-winning writers in the historic Ateneo; and a Sunday morning of outdoor activities such as writing in the park or literary walking tours and finishing with a picnic in Retiro park.

On Saturday, I was a presenter on a panel with two other writers on the topic “Being European. Whose history? Whose words? Constructing our writing selves through and beyond the shadows of colonialism.”  We talked about how the mango became European, choosing favorites in the recent World Cup based on a team’s colonial past, and creating a new identity through writing. It was a joy to plan and present this panel with two reflective and perceptive writer friends.

The last session of that Saturday afternoon was a reading by four Spanish poets based in Madrid. It was a great opportunity to hear local poets and to hear their thoughts about being a poet in the margins of other, more conspicuous arts. If you’re looking for contemporary Spanish poets to read, here are four: Martha Asunción Alonso, Mariano Peyrou, Julieta Valero, and Pablo Lopez Carballo.

The keynote was held in the theater of the Ateneo, a private art and cultural institution whose painted ceiling represents Eloquence, a fitting description for the three speakers. The evening featured Spanish author Sara Torres, winner of the Javier Morote Award for best new author in 2022; Nussaibah Younis, winner of Comedy Women in Print Prize; and Dutch author Yael Van Der Wouden, winner of the 2025 Women’s Prize and shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Brussels-based writer and podcaster Eleonora Balsano moderated the conversation which addressed the theme of the salon, the age we are living in. Resistance, desire, a scarcity of ethics were some of the issues that arose.

I had the pleasure of meeting many new writers from different parts of Europe. One of them is another Regal House Publishing author. Robyn Dabney writes feminist fantasy-adventure novels that incorporate her wildlife biology background and passion for mountain-climbing. Robyn lives in Germany with her husband and nine-month-old son, the latter of whom charmed many salon participants.

My novel Ofelia and Norma was released in the US on September 29 by Regal House Publishing. I’ll be traveling to the US for a series of book events on the West Coast, but the first one isn’t until October 15. I didn’t want September 29 to pass without notice while I’m still here in Málaga, so I gathered with five friends at a local restaurant for celebratory drinks and tapas. It was another one of my language-immersion experiences since I was the only one in the process of acquiring Spanish among native Spanish speakers. It was a lively time despite my missing bits and pieces of the conversation when the pace accelerated at times. Each of these women brings her own particular magic to the table and I’m grateful to know each of them.