Jason Webster (author)

Jason Webster is an Anglo-American crime novelist, travel writer and critic, the main focus of whose work is devoted to Spain. He was born in California in 1970. He has spent most of his adult life in Spain, having settled in Valencia with his Spanish wife, actress and dancer Salud Botella.^[1][2]

Education

Webster was educated in England, Egypt and Italy. In 1993 he graduated from Oxford University (St John's College) with a degree in Arabic and Islamic History.

Works

Webster is the author of nine books on Spain, ranging from travel to history and detective fiction. He has appeared in several television documentaries and his works have been translated into a dozen languages.

Books

• Duende: A journey in search of Flamenco (2003), which recounts Webster's move to Spain after university and his quest to learn flamenco guitar and the path to the elusive yet passionate feeling of duende, an untranslatable term referring to the feeling that is the essence of flamenco.^[3] It was long-listed for the Guardian First Book Award^[4] and read on BBC Radio 4's Book of the Week.^[5]

• Andalus: Unlocking the secrets of Moorish Spain (2004, Doubleday, ISBN 0385605072) examines the deep impact left on Spain – and by extension the rest of Europe – by the Moorish presence and was adapted as a radio play by the BBC.^[6]

• Guerra: Living in the shadows of the Spanish Civil War (2006, Black Swan, ISBN 0385608543), studied the wounds left by the civil war on contemporary Spain through a combination of history and travel. A Spanish edition, Las heridas abiertas de la guerra civil, was published in 2008 with a prologue by Paul Preston of the London School of Economics

• Sacred Sierra: A year on a Spanish mountain (2009, Chatto & Windus, ISBN 0701181575) describes a year that Webster and his Spanish wife spent living on their mountain farm in eastern Spain, on the slopes of the sacred peak of Penyagolosa, working on the land and planting trees with the help of a 12th-century Moorish gardening manual. It paints a portrait of a little-known part of the country, with details of its folklore, history and customs, and with meditations on stories, the need to preserve them and their importance for communities. Webster made a short promotional film for the book in conjunction with the award-winning Swedish film director David Flamholc of Caravan Film.

• Or the Bull Kills You (2011, Minotaur Books, ISBN 0312581831) is a crime novel set in the world of bullfighting. It is the first in a series of detective stories set in Valencia around central character Chief Inspector Max Cámara of the Spanish National Police. It was long-listed in July 2011 for a Crime Writers' Association dagger award (the CWA New Blood Dagger).^[7]
• A Death in Valencia (2012, Minotaur Books, ISBN 031258184X), a second Chief Inspector Max Cámara crime novel.
• The Anarchist Detective (2013, Chatto & Windus, ISBN 0701186909), is the third Chief Inspector Max Cámara crime novel set in La Mancha.
• The Spy with 29 Names (2014, Chatto & Windus, ISBN 0701187743), tells the true story of Spaniard Juan Pujol, MI5's double agent Garbo, who played a vital role in the success of the Allies' Normandy campaign in World War II.
• Blood Med (2014, Chatto & Windus, ISBN 0701186917), is the fourth Chief Inspector Max Cámara crime novel, focussing on the political and social problems of contemporary Spain.

Apart from his books, Webster also writes for the British newspapers The Guardian, The Observer, Financial Times and The Daily Mail and reviews occasionally for the New Statesman and Sunday Telegraph.

He has appeared in several British TV documentaries, including An Islamic History of Europe,^[8] presented by Rageh Omaar on BBC television and the critically acclaimed Andalusia: The Legacy of the Moors for Five.

In March 2014 he presented 'Flashmob Flamenco" a documentary for BBC Radio 4 on the response within the Flamenco community to the economic crisis in Spain.

Interviews with Webster

• BBC Excess Baggage
• This is Valencia Magazine
• Shotsmag Crime & Thriller Ezine

http://www.lavozdealmeria.es/vernoticia.asp?IdNoticia=56485&IdSeccion=5

Notes

External links

• Official website
• Jason Webster's blog
• Sacred Sierra web site
• AuthorsPlace web page on Jason Webster
• Jason Webster at the Internet Movie Database

Reviews of Webster's books

• Review of Duende in The Guardian
• Review of Andalus in The Telegraph
• Review of Guerra in the Sunday Telegraph
• Review of Sacred Sierra in The Independent
• Review of Or the Bull Kills You in The Independent
• Review of Or the Bull Kills You in Shots Ezine