"When I was 12 years old I began to put words to the status bullying I was experiencing at high school, at that time I didn't know what was happening, or why". Eva Zúñiga, a final year student of the double Degree in Pedagogy and Children's Education at the University of Navarra, found refuge in writing as an escape route and a method to understand what she was going through. From that moment on, her texts have been growing as she has been maturing.

As a result, the student of School of Education and Psychology has self-published "Mil pedazos", a collection of poems, short stories, and reflections. Structured in four chapters, in them the author reflects on the little awareness that we often have "that life goes by, without realizing it"; on "complicated moments, such as mourning the loss of a loved one, or a breakup of a love relationship or friendship"; and about the "healing period of these unpleasant situations," she says.

The work is full of winks, both to people close to the author (to whom she dedicates the last chapter, "Cuerdas"), and to "Evilovers", the nickname of the community that this student has created in her social networks. "Evilovers" came about because my classmates at the University found out that I wrote stories, and as fans, they began to tell me that they were my "Evilovers"," she explains.

Also, some texts are accompanied by a QR code through which you can view the videos, from the author's Youtube account, in which Eva narrates these poems and stories. goal In addition, with the aim of "making her stories more accessible", the author has also created an audiobook, with the same texts, which the reader can find at the end of the book.

"The idea for the book came up a long time ago. I had it almost ready two years ago, when I was in the 3rd year of degree program, but until last year I didn't start to move it to publishers. I even signed a contract with one, but because of the pandemic it came to a standstill and we cancelled the contract," she explains. From that moment on, the student, together with her siblings Esther and Pablo, who helped her with the infographics and videos, self-published and self-published the work.

More than a hobby

Beyond writing as a way to capture her experiences, Eva says that many people, through her Instagram account, have confided very personal experiences to her. "I realized that my stories helped other people. People told me that they identified with them," she says.

The Navarrese woman, who has around 1300 followers in this social network , has organized several initiatives in which she elaborates personalized texts for her followers. This is what she calls "project share with you", in which she states that her goal is to help tell through her texts the situations of the people who contact them, so that later, if they want to, they can share their stories".

In addition to writing, Eva recognizes that she loves to recite. For this reason, she has been part of an independent literature collective at an international level, whose main headquarters was in Colombia, but which had a sub-site in Madrid. This collective was in charge of organizing poetry recitals, in which the student has participated, in person, in the capital, and online once the pandemic began. Likewise, she also collaborates with Arrebol poesía, a Navarrese group that organizes recitals in several places in Pamplona. "I like to recite because it allows you to connect more with people," she says.