Irene Solà - I Gave You Eyes and You Looked Toward Darkness
WithIrene Solà
In conversation withHelena Fornells Nadal
On:12th June 2025, 7:00pm - 8:00pm
Attendance options:
We are so excited to welcome Irene Solà to Portobello for an event in celebration of the English translation of her second novel, I Gave You Eyes and You Looked Toward Darkness. Solà will be in conversation with Catalan poet Helena Fornells Nadal.
Written in Solà's native Catalan, the novel has been translated into English by Mara Faye Lethem, who also translated her unforgettable debut When I Sing, Mountains Dance which is a beloved bookseller favourite amongst our team.
This event will take place in the bookshop with an in-person audience, as well as a livestream for attendees watching from home. There will be a signing after the event.
In-person vouchers can be redeemed on the night of the event against a single copy of I Gave You Eyes and You Looked Toward Darkness – we will have a list of attendees with vouchers to be redeemed. Please note that only one voucher can be redeemed per book. Livestream vouchers are valid until the day after the event and can be redeemed on our website against a single copy of I Gave You Eyes and You Looked Toward Darkness.
About I Gave You Eyes and You Looked Toward Darkness:
Nestled among rugged mountains, in a remote part of Catalonia frequented by wolf hunters, bandits, deserters, ghosts, beasts and demons, sits an old farmhouse called Mas Clavell. Inside, an impossibly old woman lies on her deathbed while family and caretakers drift in and out. All the women who have ever lived in that house are waiting for her to join them. They are preparing to throw her a party.
As day turns to night, four hundred years' worth of memories unspool, and the house reverberates with the women's stories: of mysterious visions, of those born without eyelashes and tongues or with deformed hearts. But it begins with the story of the matriarch Joana who double-crosses the devil, heedless of what the consequences might be.
I Gave You Eyes and You Looked Toward Darkness is a formally daring and entrancing novel in which Irene Solà explores the duality between light and darkness, life and death, oblivion and memory.
Please note: Tickets for our events are non-refundable. Professional photography and videography may take place during this event. Thank you for your understanding.
Participants:
Irene Solà Author
Irene Solà is a Catalan writer and artist, winner of the European Union Prize for Literature, the Documenta Prize for first novels, the Llibres Anagrama Prize, and the Amadeu Oller Poetry Prize. Her artwork has been exhibited in the Whitechapel Gallery. Mara Faye Lethem is an award-winning translator and author. Her recent translations include books by Patricio Pron, Max Besora, Javier Calvo, Marta Orriols, Toni Sala, and Alicia Kopf.
Helena Fornells Nadal Chair
Helena Fornells Nadal is a Catalan poet based in Edinburgh. She is currently engaged in practice-based research on the intersection between land politics and ecopoetics funded by the University of Glasgow. Her work has appeared in publications including Magma, The Interpreter’s House, DATABLEED, Gutter, New Writing Scotland, Propel Magazine, and PROTOTYPE 6. Helena has previously won the Oxford Brookes International Poetry Competition EAL (2018) and a Scottish Book Trust New Writers Award (2022).
The venue
The Portobello Bookshop
46 Portobello High Street
Edinburgh
EH15 1DA
Telephone: 0131 629 6756
Website: www.theportobellobookshop.com
Wheelchair Access
We have a ramp at the front of the shop which has a ratio of 1:10 and loading capacity of 300kg, and so should be able to be used by most wheelchair users or those with mobility vehicles. The front doors are fully automated. Our shop interior is designed to allow access throughout for wheelchair users and prams, though please note there is only 700mm wide clearance to access the staff toilet.
Sound
We use a PA system to enhance the audio at our live events. We also have a hearing loop system installed, if you’d like to use our loop system during an event please let us know and we’ll make sure we have it set up and connected to the live audio feed during the event. If you wish to attend an event and require BSL interpretation, please give us a few weeks notice and we’ll do our best to arrange an interpreter.