author
Luis Ruiz Contreras
1863–1953
A lively figure around Spain’s Generation of ’98, this writer moved easily between journalism, criticism, drama, and translation. He is also remembered for founding the short-lived but influential magazine Revista Nueva, which brought together several major literary voices of the time.
1 Audiobook
Cocina del tiempo, ó arte de preparar sabrosos y exquisitos platos propios de cada estación
by Luis Ruiz Contreras
About the author
Born in Castelló d’Empúries on January 8, 1863, and later active in Madrid, Luis Ruiz Contreras built a varied literary career as a writer, journalist, theater critic, dramatist, and translator. Spanish reference sources place him within the orbit of the Generation of ’98 and describe him as an important, if sometimes secondary, presence in that literary world.
One of his most notable projects was Revista Nueva, founded in 1899. Though the magazine was brief in duration, it became a meeting place for prominent writers such as Miguel de Unamuno, Pío Baroja, Ramiro de Maeztu, and Valle-Inclán, which gives a good sense of Ruiz Contreras’s place in the cultural networks of his day.
He also did extensive translation work, helping bring French authors into Spanish, including Guy de Maupassant and others. That mix of original writing, criticism, editorial work, and translation makes him an especially interesting literary go-between: someone who not only wrote, but also helped shape what his contemporaries read and discussed.