1. What is your background? How did you come to work with children's books?

In 2018 I published my first story. It recounted the adventures of a girl in the time of the ancient Iberians, the inhabitants of a large area of the Iberian Peninsula before the arrival of the Romans. It was the beginning of a collection of three stories about the history of the city of Montcada i Reixac (Barcelona, Spain). The book, written in Catalan, is titled Viu les Maleses amb l’Alícia i l’Orisos.

2. What drew you to writing/working with Classical Antiquity and what challenges did you face in selecting, representing, or adapting particular myths or stories?

In 2018, the publishing house Molino, for which I worked as a proofreader, proposed the project of collecting the one hundred main myths of ancient Greece. The biggest problem was to summarise each myth on a single page, as the material is so abundant and varied.

3. Why do you think classical / ancient myths, history, and literature continue to resonate with young audiences?

Myths continue to attract because they are beautiful and deeply human stories. In addition, they deal with topics such as love, loneliness, justice (or injustice) and the weaknesses of human beings. On the other hand, their knowledge is part of our culture, as they are present in numerous paintings, statues, buildings... Even in language, as when we speak of narcissism.

On the 29 October 2021, by email correspondence with L. Dunbar, Moreno Delgado explained his comment, ‘Incluso en el lenguaje, como cuando hablamos de narcasisimo’, adding that:

I wanted to say that mythology is even present at times in our everyday language. To say that someone is a "narcissist" means that he is someone who considers himself the best at something (beauty, intelligence), and the word leads us to the myth of Narcissus, who, upon seeing himself reflected in the water, fell in love with himself. In Spanish the use of these words (narcissism, narcissistic) can be found in numerous texts and articles.

In Spanish there are more everyday uses of words related to mythology, such as "chimera". Apart from designating a mythological animal, the word also, according to the dictionary, means: That which is proposed to the imagination as possible or true, not being it.

For example, you could say, "Your idea is a pipe dream."

4. Do you have a background in classical education (Latin or Greek at school or classes at the University?) What sources are you using? Scholarly work? Wikipedia? Are there any books that made an impact on you in this respect? 

At university I graduated in Classical Philology. For the book, I used the classic texts. That is, the Latin and Greek texts in which a specific myth is spoken of (Homer, Apollodorus, Higinus, tragics...). Wikipedia helped me to find some sources and passages, but above all, Pierre Grimal's dictionary of myths was good for me.

5. Did you think about how Classicasl Antiquity would translate for young readers, especially in Spain?

Yes. It was necessary to write the texts in a clear and understandable way. In addition, I made an effort so that the reader knew all the words and concepts used. Since many of them have never had contact with the classical world, one could not take anything for granted.

6. How concerned were you with ‘accuracy’ or ‘fidelity’ to the original?  (another way of saying that might be — that I think writers are often more ‘faithful’ to originals in adapting its spirit rather than being tied down at the level of detail — is this something you thought about?).

The advantage of writing about myths is that there are often several versions of them. Among the sources, I chose the one that I thought was best. I respected the sources to the maximum, but, if necessary, I made up dialogues or scenes to better present the myth. I do think that you have to be very faithful to the sources and the old writers, but they can be adapted. For example, in the case of Daphne I removed the sexual charge from the episode, since we were dealing with children.

7. Are you planning any further forays into classical material?

Yes. Now I have written a short novel set in ancient Roman Barcelona. It is aimed at young audiences and I am contacting publishers to see if they are interested in publishing it.

Prepared by Lisa Dunbar Solas, independent researcher, drlisasolas@ancientexplorer.com.au