author
Alvaro Retana
A flamboyant, rule-breaking voice of early 20th-century Spain, he mixed fiction, journalism, fashion, and popular music into a career that felt as theatrical as his books. His work became especially known for its wit, provocation, and open challenge to polite social norms.
1 Audiobook
La voz de la conseja, t.2 Selección de las mejores novelas breves y cuentos de los más esclarecidos literatos
by Joaquín Álvarez Quintero, Serafín Álvarez Quintero, Vicente Blasco Ibáñez, José Echegaray, Concha Espina, Wenceslao Fernández-Flórez, Gutiérrez Gamero, Antonio de Hoyos y Vinent, J. (José) Ortega Munilla, Alvaro Retana, Diego San José, Bernardo Morales San Martín, Felipe Trigo
About the author
Álvaro Retana Ramírez de Arellano was born in Batangas, Philippines, in 1890 and died near Madrid in 1970. Sources describe him as an unusually versatile cultural figure: a writer, journalist, illustrator, fashion designer, musician, and lyricist, as well as one of the best-known names linked to Spanish erotic literature of his time.
He built a reputation for playful, daring, modern work that pushed against the conservative values of early 20th-century Spain. Beyond novels and journalism, he also wrote song lyrics and moved through the worlds of theater, popular music, and visual style, giving his public image a celebrity-like flair.
That mix of literary output and personal showmanship is part of why he still stands out today. He is remembered not just for the books themselves, but for the way he turned authorship into performance and made modernity, wit, and scandal part of his signature.