Antonio Muñoz Molina is a Spanish writer who was born in Úbeda in 1956. When he was eleven years old, his father gave him a typewriter for his birthday. Moreover, his father let him continue his studies because he knew how much his son would appreciate that. Then, when he was eighteen, he moved to Granada to study art history. After that, he wanted to learn more, so he decided to study journalism in Madrid.

A lot of books written by himself were published through the years, and he was awarded a large number of times. 

In 1995 he began to work as a full member of the Royal Spanish Academy. Ten years later, he became the director of the Cervantes Institute of New York. He still continues working there.

Salvador Compán was born in Úbeda, Jaén, in 1949. When he became older he studied and completed his degree in Romantic Languages and Literature at the University of Granada. He has published and written some books through his life, such as Today is bad but tomorrow is mine or Travel Notebook.  Now he lives in Seville, where he works in a high school as a Spanish Language and Literature teacher.

Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer was born in Seville in 1836. He always liked writing and literature, so when he was 17, he moved to Madrid in search of some laboral opportunities as a writer, his dream job. Nevertheless it was not as easy as it seemed. Madrid has always been an expensive city, so he became a journalist and comic playwright to pay the bills. 

Sadly, like many artists and writers, he became famous after his death, which means that he could not enjoy his fame. He died at a young age, in 1870, suffering from tuberculosis. His friends, who knew how talented Becquer was, decided to publish his most famous piece of work once he was dead. This book was Rhymes and Legends, known all over the world.

Federico García Lorca was born in Granada, in 1898, and he is one of the most famous writers of the history of Spain. He grew up in a rural house and then he moved to the city. At first he was supposed to be a musician because he was brilliant playing the piano. However, despite all those plans, he discovered his passion for writing at his late teens.

In 1919, he moved to a prestigious residence of students in Madrid where he met lots of friends, artists and writers. In fact, there he met his future lover, Salvador Dalí. Fortunately for Lorca, he published his first book in 1918. His poems, plays and prose were fascinating because they mix different forms of music, art and literature. In the early 1920s, Lorca started to try other styles of writing such as Japanese Haikus. He continued his career as a writer, and, from 1925 to 1928, he was passionately involved with Dalí. In addition, also in 1928, one of the most important books of Lorca was published, Romancero Gitano.

Years later, Federico decided to move to New York and then to Cuba, which was an incredible opportunity to become known all over the world. Finally, he returned to Spain again. 

In the 1930s he started to get involved with theatre and he wrote some tragedies and plays which brought the Spanish theatre to a brilliant era. Nevertheless, he came back to poetry. In 1933-34 he travelled to Argentina where he met another famous writer of poetry, Pablo Neruda. They became good friends. 

In 1936, while Federico was writing one of his most popular books, The house of Bernarda Alba, the Civil War broke out in Spain. Consequently, he, as a republican and homosexual, was arrested and then, killed. 

In spite of his tragic end, Lorca will always be remembered. In fact, nowadays, he still influences writers.

Rafael Alberti was born in Cádiz, in 1902 and he is one of the most important Spanish poets of the 20th century. When he was young, he moved to Madrid with his family. There he decided to follow his dreams to become an artist, so he studied art. Sadly, his father died and at that moment he began to write poetry. 

The Civil War started in Spain in 1936 and he, as a communist, had no place in this country. Consequently, he decided to move to Argentina and Italy. Despite the Civil War had ended in 1939, he did not return to Spain until 1977. He wrote a lot during those years and his books became very popular and well known. Finally, he died in 1999. 

However, in ‘El Puerto de Santa Maria’, the city where Rafael was born, the Rafael Alberti foundation can be found, whose aim is to preserve the work of Alberti. We will never forget him.

María Zambrano was born in Vélez-Málaga, on April 22nd of 1904. She was a republican, she participated in the Civil War and was exiled for more than 45 years. She is currently recognised as one of the most significant voices in the 20th century philosophy. Moreover, she worked in different areas such as, dreams, feminine knowledge and poetry.  She only stayed in Vélez-Málaga for three years as her family moved to Jaén and then to Segovia, where she attended high school.  Zambrano’s thoughts had a special interest in freedom as practice and an exercise of transcendence. María continued her studies at the University in Madrid where she decided to study Philosophy. During her studies, she participated in students protests and she also wrote for newspapers. She became a teacher at Madrid University, but after the Spanish Civil War, she needed to move to Mexico and Cuba, where she was a teacher in universities. In addition, she moved to Italy and Switzerland before returning to Spain. In 1981 she was awarded with the Prince of Asturias' Prize and in 1988, with the Cervantes Literature Prize.  Unfortunately, she died in 1991, in Madrid.

He is one of the most respected authors from the 20th century of Spanish letters. He was born in Seville in 1875. 

When he became older, he went to Madrid to study and, in 1893, he published his first prose text. He got a Doctorate in Philosophy and Letters in 1918 and he became a member of the Royal Spanish Academy. Moreover, he moved to Baeza (a city really near Úbeda) after the death of his wife, from tuberculosis. He also went to Soria, where he worked as a French teacher. However, he wanted to commit suicide, but walking through the streets of his new city helped him to stop those negative thoughts. 

He usually wrote theatre plays with his brother. During the Civil War he worked to promote the Republican cause. As a result, he had to move to Barcelona in order to avoid the Nationalists Advancing. In 1936, he was almost blind and died, after going into exile in France, in 1939.