From Spielberg to David Bowie, Spanish journalist Alfonso Armada publishes “The Art of the Interview”

The Spanish writer and journalist, specialist in conflicts, Alphonse Armada Rodriguez (Vigo, 1958) recently published “The Art of the Interview, from David Bowie to Adam Zagajewski”published by the seal of Turner Editionsin which he compiles some of the interviews he has done in Iberian media such as The country there ABC. The characters who parade in this book reveal their encounters with journalists, photographers, musicians and writers, among other cultural personalities.

Journalism was not an option for Alphonse ArmadaHe assures us that it was rather a matter of fate and he is convinced that if the profession were to be reborn he would choose it again, he would even cross these stages that he had to climb again. the wars of bosnia there Rwandathe attack against twin towers In new York there Reporters Without Borders (RSF), they trained him as a journalist, but above all as a correspondent.

“These are interviews over 30 years old. Some published in The country and the minority in ABC. At first they were interviews with Spanish authors, Spanish characters or personalities, but in the end he proposed that only foreign voices be included in the book. And there is an interview Susana Martinez Condewho is a neuroscientist living in new Yorkand that she is the only compatriot” Alphonse Armada.

Throughout his career, the Spanish journalist has specialized in the interview, a genre he has practiced for more than 30 years and which has led him to engage in conversations with some of the most fascinating personalities of his time. . Some of these experiences are collected in “The Art of Maintenance” a book that compiles 30 voices from the world of letters, culture, music and thought.

With the exception that the author made with Susana Martinez Condethe other personalities of “The art of maintenance They are foreign; there are conversations of Armada con Daniel Barenboim, Steven Spielberg, Wim Wenders, Richard Ford, Gioacchino Lanza Tomasi, Henry Roth, Jacques Salter, Susan Sontag, Byung Chul Han, James Nightweyamong many other artists and thinkers who have shaped the world with their work.

In this extraordinary gallery of characters, Alphonse Armada managed to bring together a wide range of protagonists of our time. The book also includes a decalogue on the art of the interview, dedicated to young journalists, in which the author gives a lecture trying to explain what to do in an interview, and in which he highlights “the art of listening to others”.

“Of david bowie I still have a few records, LPs, but he wasn’t an artist who captivated me, even though I have friends completely fascinated by his figure as a performer, composer and even actor. But it was not in my predilections. So I listened to the latest album, which was the reason for the interview, and tried to listen and learn as much as I could about him before I interviewed him.” Alphonse Armado in interview with The Journal.es.

Armada He doesn’t skimp on sharing all of his experience in the interview genre, he emphasizes the task of getting to know the interviewee, and how important it is to try to take as much time as possible when going to interview. someone, and above all that under journalistic ethics to know as much as possible about the characters whose information you want to obtain.

In 1999, Armada received the proposal ABC become a correspondent of new Yorka fact that took him by surprise and by chance on his arrival he had to cover the attack of the twin towerswhen he returned to Madridworked in the Sunday section of the ABC do reports. His first steps as a journalist were in the Vigo lighthouseis the author of How much does a human head weigh?, “Life is a crossroads” there “The Art of Maintenance”.

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