"Writers do not solve society's problems, but we can contribute to making readers' awareness a little richer and deeper". This is what the writer Lorenzo Silva said at the campus of Madrid of the University of Navarra in a meeting with students of Secondary School and high school diploma. The activity is part of the Degree in language and Literature that the School of Philosophy and Letters of the academic center will launch the next course 2022-23.

Silva, professor at the new Degree, reflected on literary creation and its role in society. To do so, he recalled Benito Pérez Galdós and his interest in listening to the Spanish voices of his time: "That of the ministers and the shoeshine boys, the one who serves a coffee and the notary", which turns writing into "a way of transmitting knowledge". Listening and observing, the novelist emphasized, because a work does not begin when the first word is typed, but much earlier, in ideation and learning. 

Likewise, Lorenzo Silva analyzed the documentation process in historical and detective novels and insisted on the need to ask questions and to go outside oneself to enter into other people's realities: "Literature is a good tool to help report. It tells us much more than stories. It brings us closer to the society in which we live".

In the workshop, the students approached the sources of documentation, but also the creative process. Silva, one of the masters of contemporary literature, emphasized the value of reading, of attention to detail in storytelling, and of will and perseverance along the way.

Restlessness to tell the world

The Degree in language and Literature, a pioneer in Spain, is aimed at students with cultural concerns, interested in deepening their knowledge of issues related to literary creation, as well as in the study of language and its applications. There will be two diplomas at specialization: in Creative Writing and in Language Sciences. 

The diploma in Creative Writing will train students in literary creation in its different genres, as well as in the world of publishing house and management cultural. Their training in the good use of language will also allow them to work in copywriting, audiovisual, business, institutional and literary linguistic consulting, or to work in the teaching of Spanish using the technologies demanded by current communication and culture.

For its part, the diploma in Language Sciences will enable the student to work in areas related to new technologies and applied linguistics, sectors where the demand for linguists is increasing, such as experimental phonetics, assessment and intervention of language pathologies, speech recognition or machine translation.