The Madrid Review

05/08/2026

Announcing MAD about Books – a new English-language reading group in Madrid.

No set book. Just bring something you've recently read or are reading, and enjoy talking about books with fellow readers.

Details:

Announcing a new English-language book group in Madrid! MAD about Books: A monthly gathering for people who enjoy reading and talking about books in English. There is no set book to read. Simply bring a book you have just finished or are currently reading, whether fiction, non-fiction or poetry. The...

31/07/2026

Dear Readers in Australia and New Zealand,

I am thrilled to share that Spotify has selected Daughters of the Sun and Moon as its July Pick and is now live on the Audiobooks main page in Australia and New Zealand as part of their curated Editors’ Picks shelf.

This is what the editor had to say:
'An equally heartbreaking and uplifting tale of three Chinese women, this is Lisa See at her masterful best.’ Arry Kinnear - Senior Editor, Audiobooks AUNZ.

This is only available to Australian and New Zealand Spotify users. Here's the link to get your copy: https://bit.ly/44yRuPq

31/07/2026

Submissions are now open for the October edition of The Madrid Review!

After our summer issue, we're turning towards shorter days, longer nights and one of our favourite themes yet:

Into the night.

Night is something we experience physically - the cold, the darkness, the leaves beginning to fall - but it is also a place of dreams, memory, mystery, fear, longing and transformation. We want to see where your imagination takes it.

We're thrilled to be joined by two exceptional guest editors:

Anna Beer, acclaimed biographer, cultural historian and novelist, who will be reading our prose submissions.

Matthew Stewart, award-winning poet, translator and one of the finest literary voices writing from Spain today, who will be reading our poetry submissions.

Submission guidelines in a nutshell:
Prose: up to 1,000 words
Poetry: up to 40 lines (maximum four poems)
Deadline: 30 August 2026
Email: [email protected]
Subject line: Submission: Poetry or Submission: Prose

Full details, submission guidelines and more about our guest editors are on our Substack today.

We can't wait to read your work. Please share this post if you love poetry and writing!

Please spread the message far and wide and we'd love to read your work from wherever you are in the world!

29/07/2026

Today on The Madrid Review Substack we're proud to publish "On Two Duìlián by Qingzhu", a fascinating essay by Alan Kovacs Liao—violist, musicologist, Emeritus Professor at the Real Conservatorio Superior de Música de Madrid, and grandson of the celebrated Chinese composer and poet Qingzhu.
In this beautifully written essay, Kovacs Liao opens the door to one of China's most distinctive literary traditions: the duìlián, or paired couplet. Through two remarkable examples written by Qingzhu during the Second Sino-Japanese War, he reveals how just a few lines of poetry can contain centuries of philosophy, history, moral reflection, and artistic expression.
Blending literary criticism, historical insight, and personal perspective, the essay offers an accessible introduction to classical Chinese poetry for Western readers. Along the way, it explores the life and ideas of Qingzhu—one of the pioneers of modern Chinese art song—and shows how poetry, calligraphy, music, and landscape come together in the Chinese literati tradition.
Whether you're discovering Chinese literature for the first time or already have a love of poetry and cultural history, this essay is an invitation to look more closely at a form of writing where every character carries extraordinary weight.

In the picture above: Ni Zan (1301–1374), Poetic Thoughts in a Forest Pavilion. One of the great masters of Yuan dynasty literati painting. Public domain.

The link to the Substack piece is here:
https://open.substack.com/pub/themadridreview/p/on-two-duilian-by-qingzhu?r=2k593n&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

By Alan Kovacs Liao

22/07/2026

Today on our Substack, meet American novelist Donna Miscolta, who made Málaga her home in 2023 and writes with remarkable insight about identity, family and belonging.
Head over to Substack and have a read!
Donna Miscolta - Writer

21/07/2026

Can a language survive exile?
Sophia Smith Galer's new book, 'How to Kill a Language' explores why languages disappear and why they sometimes survive against extraordinary odds.
Our latest blogpost looks at the book through a Spanish lens, from the revival of Catalan and Basque to the remarkable story of Ladino, the language carried into exile by Spain's Sephardic Jews more than five centuries ago.

🔗 Read it now on The Madrid Review blog. The link is in our Stories.

https://themadridreview.com/f/can-a-language-survive-exile

Sophia Smith Galer HarperCollins

Sophia Smith Galer, Ladino and Spain's Linguistic Legacy. By James Hartley.

20/07/2026

"The moment you start caring about what a gallery or a publisher thinks, you stop being an artist and become an employee." — Remedios Varo

14/07/2026

Before One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel García Márquez was 38, in debt, and largely overlooked. What kept him going wasn't certainty of success, but his belief in the book.
Check the post out on our Substack today.
Gabriel García Márquez

11/07/2026

From chart-topping 80s superstar to internet icon and still selling out concerts across Spain and the world, the Rick Astley story is anything but ordinary.
As he takes to the stage in , , , and , James Hartley looks beyond the hits to explore Never, Astley's candid memoir. It's a revealing account of family, fame, walking away from success, and the remarkable second act that turned a pop star into a global phenomenon.

Follow the link and discover - if you don't know it yet - why Rick Astley is far more than a nostalgia act.

How Rick Astley's memoir tells the story behind pop's most unlikely second act - as he lands in Spain for a series of concerts. By James Hartley.

10/07/2026

Today on The Madrid Review blog, a conversation with Lawrence Osborne - novelist, essayist, traveller and one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary fiction.

Originally published in Issue 2 of the magazine, our Books Editor Cliff Shephard speaks with Osborne about writing fiction and non-fiction, adapting novels for the screen, social media, forgotten authors, Raymond Chandler, Graham Greene and the enduring allure of elsewhere.

With Ballad of a Small Player introducing his work to a wider audience, there's never been a better time to discover - or rediscover - one of modern literature's finest writers.

https://themadridreview.com/f/the-last-cosmopolitan-an-interview-with-lawrence-osborne

Netflix

By Cliff Shephard