António Tiza, together with the publisher Sabaria, specialized in translating works from Portuguese into Spanish, offers us his second book of short stories titled Pretérito imperfecto (Imperfect Past). After the publication of O Diabo e as Cinzas (The Devil and the Ashes) in 2013, a collection of thirteen stories, and the comics Natal dos Caretos (The Caretos’ Christmas) in 2015 and Os Reis dos Caretos (The Kings of the Caretos) in 2020, he published the book that is now translated by the Lisbon publishing house LeYa (2023). In this newly published Spanish edition, he adds two more stories. As in the Portuguese edition, each story is published with a beautiful illustration by Sara Pereira.
Pretérito imperfecto (Imperfect Past) is not a book about masks, but it is a book about the culture that has preserved them for centuries, and the cyclical time of winter festivals for young people who wear masks—a topic very dear to him—is present in several stories such as “El Zangarrón de Fornos” (“The Zangarrón of Fornos”) or “El enmascarado de Vilarinho dos Galegos” (“The Masked Man of Vilarinho dos Galegos”). They also offer a panorama of the annual life in the villages of la Raya (the Border) or a Raía (the Border) between the district of Bragança and the province of Zamora.
The stories present developments from the past that remain present today, hence the title. Their characters experience a world that has ended, but which preserves elements of the past with a retro feeling. In any case, these stories are tales of success—of the survival of ordinary people.
Last October 31, the book was presented in Zamora at the Ramos Carrión Theatre (Provincial Council of Zamora). The event featured the editor, Concha López Jambrina; the author of the epilogue, musician and musicologist Alberto Jambrina; our researcher and author of the prologue, professor Pilar Panero; and the author, our dear professor António Tiza. Friends from the mask world attended, such as the photographer who took these nice images, Miguel Ángel Cruz Sánchez (@mi.cross), along with members of MascaraZA and others.
This book is a lovely gift that reminds us that the mask is alive and continues to inspire and nourish people’s creativity.
From MASKS we congratulate António Tiza on his book and feel proud that he is part of our consortium.
