Edurne Portela

Edurne Portela

Miren Edurne Portela Camino (Santurce, Vizcaya; 1974) is a Spanish historian, philologist, university professor, essayist, and novelist.
Graduated in History from the University of Navarra (1997), she expanded her studies in the United States, a country in which she has also developed her professional career as a teacher and researcher. She completed a master's degree in Hispanic Literatures (1999) and a doctorate in Spanish and Latin American Literature (2003), both at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (North Carolina), being an associate professor (1999-2001). In 2003 she moved to the College of Arts and Sciences of the University of Lehigh (Pennsylvania), where for thirteen years she combines her teaching work, as associate professor (2003-2008) with academic management in the direction of Humanities Center (Humanities Center) (2008-2014) and International Initiatives (2013-2014) of the College of Arts and Sciences.

In 2010 he co-founded the 21st Century International Association of Spanish Literature and Cinema (ALCESXXI), being vice-president (2010-2016) and member of the editorial board of the ALCES XXI Magazine.

In 2016, he finished his academic career in the United States and returned to Spain, in order to devote himself entirely to writing, by publishing essays and novels and collaborating in print and digital media, such as La Marea, El Correo , El País, RNE and La SER.

In 2018, he received the Best Fiction Book award for his work Best Absence, awarded by the Madrid Bookshops Guild in its 18th edition.

Both in his work as a novelist and in his essays, Edurne Portela addresses and investigates the theme of violence in different aspects, from the violence experienced in Basque society during the rise of ETA (The Echo of Shooting) to the daily violence of toxic relationships (Ways to be away)