PROVO, Utah (March 4, 2014)—Popular Spanish author León Arsenal never imagined having a connection to a private university in Utah, so when he decided to donate over 800 volumes of text to Brigham Young University, he told Spanish-speaking students and professors why he made the decision.
Arsenal has written in various genres, but his work in the fantasy, science fiction and terror genre make him unique, especially since this genre hasn’t always been accepted in Spain.
Arsenal explained that since the 19th century, authors wrote about a variety of topics in a variety of forms. But when the Spanish civil war broke out in the 1930s, things changed. “The civil war made literature very realistic,” said Arsenal. Since then, non-realistic literature hasn’t been popular in Spain.
That’s the literary atmosphere Arsenal faced when he began writing. But he and other authors, in particular science fiction authors, were hoping to change that atmosphere.
In the eighties, Arsenal published his first short stories in the only magazine possible. It was there, that science fiction made its first stand.
With the various changes in technology, Arsenal said, “the world is responding to new technologies,” and that allows for a more creative era – an era that will more willingly accept science fiction, even in Spain.
But even today, Arsenal says that these genres of fiction are still struggling to make their way. He said that some say these genres are bringing a literature apocalypse. “People are saying that literature is dead because of these new types.
“People are changing,” said Arsenal.
That’s why Arsenal hoped his collection of books would be a valuable donation.
Arsenal said, “I’m never going to reread this book. I have many books. In that moment I thought to give my books to a library.” But finding an organization that wanted his books was a difficult task.
“Books are like jewels to some people,” Arsenal said, “but for others, books aren’t worth anything. I wanted to put my books in a good place.”
He explained of a library recently built in Spain. “The funds to buy books ran out. But they still didn’t want my books.”
Arsenal almost gave up finding a place for his collection. Then he was contacted by BYU Spanish professor Dale Pratt. After several conversations, Pratt learned of Arsenal’s predicament and offered BYU as a solution.
Pratt talked to a few administrators, and BYU agreed to pay for the shipping of the books and care for the collection.
Although Arsenal never thought of sending them to the U.S., he said, “If my books are going to serve something, in whatever place, it’s better than kept among spiders.
“My books are like my children. I hope they have better opportunities.” So he sent his personal collection to BYU, where students and scholars can appreciate their literary value.
Arsenal’s donated collection includes several Spanish first edition popular novels, such as “Lord of the Rings,” and printed magazines and articles that can’t be found anywhere else. Of the collection, Pratt said, “This is a record of the explosion of science fiction. Some of these texts were printed in junky magazines. No one has a copy of them. And we have it. Arsenal wanted to give it to someone who was interested.”
Pratt mentioned that because of Arsenal’s donation, “now we’re talking to other authors, his friends, and they want to donate their collections to BYU because they know we’ll appreciate it.”
A small sampling of the donated collection, called “From Mars to Provo, by Way of Spain: The Leon Arsenal Collection,” is on display in the BYU Harold B. Lee Library.
—Stephanie Bahr Bentley BA’ English ’14