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Luna Miguel

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Luna Miguel
Luna Miguel in 2021
Born
Luna Miguel Santos

(1990-11-06) 6 November 1990 (age 35)
Alcalá de Henares, Spain
Occupations
  • Poet
  • writer
  • editor
Writing career
LanguageSpanish
Years active2010–present
Notable awardsPremio Hermanos Argensola (2010)

Luna Miguel Santos (born 6 November 1990) is a Spanish poet, writer and editor. She won the Hermanos Argensola International Poetry Prize in 2010 for her collection Poetry is not dead. A poet and essayist first, she made her debut as a novelist in 2018 with El funeral de Lolita.[1] Her other books include the essays El coloquio de las perras (2019), Caliente (2021) and Incensurable (2025), and the stage monologue Ternura y derrota (2021).

Alongside her writing, Miguel has worked as an editor at El Gaviero, her family's poetry press, as culture editor of the online magazine PlayGround, and as guest editor of the Penguin Random House imprint Caballo de Troya. Her books deal with the body, desire, reading and the women writers left out of the Spanish-language literary canon.

Early life

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She was born on 6 November 1990 in Alcalá de Henares, in the Community of Madrid,[2] the daughter of the independent publisher Ana Santos Payán and the secondary-school teacher Pedro J. Miguel, who moved the family to Almería in the 1990s and founded the small poetry press El Gaviero Ediciones there in 2004.[3] Her mother died in March 2014 after a long illness.[4]

While still at secondary school, Miguel began contributing to the Almería newspaper La Voz de Almería. She went on to study for a journalism degree at the King Juan Carlos University in Madrid, but left in her final year after moving to Barcelona for an internship at the Random House publishing group.[5]

Poetry

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In 2010, Miguel's book Poetry is not dead won the XLII Hermanos Argensola International Poetry Prize, awarded by the city council of Barbastro.[6] Los estómagos ("The Stomachs"), her fifth collection, came out in 2015; El Asombrario described hers as a poetry that looks at the self and speaks of a generation and of the woman's body.[7]

Her seventh collection, Poesía masculina ("Masculine Poetry"), appeared in 2021, more than a decade after her first, Estar enfermo (2010); written over five years, it adopts the voice of a man modelled on her own partner, in what she called a provocation against the label of "feminine poetry".[8] Un amor español ("A Spanish Love"), published in 2023, examines her relationship with the idea of the homeland.[9]

Prose and essays

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She published the short story Exhumación ("Exhumation"), written with Antonio J. Rodríguez, in 2010, and the essay El dedo. Breves apuntes sobre la masturbación femenina ("The Finger: Brief Notes on Female Masturbation") in 2016; by 2018 she was also a columnist for El Cultural.[10] Her first novel, El funeral de Lolita ("The Funeral of Lolita"), was published by Lumen in November 2018; in it, a food critic named Helena reconsiders her life after the death of a former literature teacher she had been in love with, in a reworking of the myth of Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita.[11]

In El coloquio de las perras ("The Colloquy of the Bitches", Capitán Swing, 2019), Miguel writes about women who wrote in Spanish and were pushed out of the canon, among them Elena Garro, Alejandra Pizarnik, Gabriela Mistral, María Emilia Cornejo, Agustina González López and Alcira Soust Scaffo.[12] Caliente ("Hot", Lumen, 2021) mixes memoir and essay to address desire, monogamy and polyamory.[13] In October 2025 she published Incensurable ("Uncensorable", Lumen), whose protagonist, a philosopher expelled from her university after giving a lecture on pleasure and censorship, lives in a near future in which Lolita has disappeared from every library in the world.[14]

Stage work

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Ternura y derrota ("Tenderness and Defeat"), a monologue written and performed by Miguel, premiered on 9 December 2021 at the Teatro de la Comedia in Madrid, commissioned by the theatre as a companion piece to its simultaneous production of Cervantes' El cerco de Numancia.[15] In 2022 she returned to the same theatre as dramatist and performer in El engaño, part of the Don Juan cycle El lugar y el mito created with Paola de Diego and Luis Sorolla.[16] From 25 to 27 April 2023 she carried out La muerte de la lectora ("The Death of the Reader"), a performance at Madrid's Conde Duque cultural centre in which she read in public for 48 uninterrupted hours; it grew out of her essay Leer mata ("Reading Kills", La Caja Books, 2022), for which she had read James Joyce's Ulysses in three days as an experiment.[17]

Editing and journalism

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After her mother's death in 2014, Miguel took over the editorship of El Gaviero and coordinated, with her mother, Serial, an anthology of poems inspired by television series with contributors including Elena Medel.[18] She was culture editor of the online magazine PlayGround until December 2018.[19] Together with Antonio J. Rodríguez she was guest editor of Caballo de Troya, a Penguin Random House imprint that invites a different writer each year to choose its titles, until the filmmaker Jonás Trueba took over for the 2021 catalogue.[20] She has also written criticism for Babelia, the books supplement of El País.[21]

Personal life

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She has a son, Ulises, and in 2021 was living in Barcelona.[22] In 2026, El Confidencial described the philosopher Ernesto Castro as her husband.[23]

Selected works

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Poetry

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  • Estar enfermo (La Bella Varsovia, 2010)
  • Poetry is not dead (DVD, 2010)
  • Pensamientos estériles (Cangrejo Pistolero, 2011)
  • La tumba del marinero (La Bella Varsovia, 2013)
  • Los estómagos (La Bella Varsovia, 2015)
  • El arrecife de las sirenas (La Bella Varsovia, 2017)
  • Poesía masculina (La Bella Varsovia, 2021)
  • Un amor español (La Bella Varsovia, 2023)

Novel

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  • El funeral de Lolita (Lumen, 2018)

Essays

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  • El dedo. Breves apuntes sobre la masturbación femenina (Capitán Swing, 2016)
  • El coloquio de las perras (Capitán Swing, 2019)
  • Caliente (Lumen, 2021)
  • Leer mata (La Caja Books, 2022)
  • Incensurable (Lumen, 2025)

Theatre

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  • Ternura y derrota (CNTC, 2021)

Children's literature

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  • Hazme volar (La Galera, 2019)

Short fiction

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  • Exhumación, with Antonio J. Rodríguez (Alpha Decay, 2010)

References

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  1. ↑ "Los 25 libros más esperados de octubre 2025" [The 25 most anticipated books of October 2025]. El País (in Spanish). 2 October 2025. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  2. ↑ ""Los que publican en editoriales respetadas no son tan diferentes de los que te sueltan guarradas por la calle"" ["Those who publish with respected publishing houses are not so different from those who shout obscenities at you in the street"]. Pikara Magazine (in Spanish). 30 September 2020. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  3. ↑ Rodríguez Marcos, Javier (4 April 2014). "Ana Santos Payán, la imaginación hecha edición" [Ana Santos Payán, imagination turned into publishing]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  4. ↑ Riaño, Peio H. (31 March 2014). "Adiós Ana Santos, editora y navegante" [Farewell Ana Santos, editor and navigator]. El Confidencial (in Spanish). Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  5. ↑ "«Cuando eres mujer, el tema de la edad te afecta de un modo distinto», Luna Miguel" ["When you are a woman, age affects you differently", Luna Miguel]. Gràffica (in Spanish). 20 September 2018. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  6. ↑ "El Ayuntamiento de Barbastro (Huesca) acoge el acto de entrega de los premios literarios 2010" [The Barbastro (Huesca) city council hosts the 2010 literary awards ceremony]. Europa Press (in Spanish). 2 July 2010. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  7. ↑ "Luna Miguel: lo importante queda entre el corazón y la vagina" [Luna Miguel: what matters lies between the heart and the vagina]. El Asombrario (in Spanish). 18 July 2015. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  8. ↑ Giménez Lorenzo, Clara (4 June 2021). "Luna Miguel: "Me gustaría retratar los miedos del hombre que se quiere deconstruir pero sabe que no puede"" [Luna Miguel: "I would like to portray the fears of the man who wants to deconstruct himself but knows he cannot"]. eldiario.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  9. ↑ Baroja, Eva (26 January 2023). "En la biblioteca de Luna Miguel: "Hay muchos escritores precarizados"" [In Luna Miguel's library: "There are many precarious writers"]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  10. ↑ "Luna Miguel y Antonio J. Rodríguez llevarán las riendas de Caballo de Troya en 2019" [Luna Miguel and Antonio J. Rodríguez will take the reins of Caballo de Troya in 2019]. El Cultural (in Spanish). 28 February 2018. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  11. ↑ "Zenda recomienda: El funeral de Lolita, de Luna Miguel" [Zenda recommends: El funeral de Lolita, by Luna Miguel]. Zenda (in Spanish). 12 November 2018. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  12. ↑ Correa, Alba (29 October 2019). ""Los grandes autores no han escrito la literatura universal que ellos creen, sino una parte del mundo", Luna Miguel y las escritoras que ladran" ["The great authors have not written the universal literature they believe they have, but a part of the world": Luna Miguel and the women writers who bark]. Vogue España (in Spanish). Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  13. ↑ "Luna Miguel: "Escribir y masturbarse son maneras de entrar en una misma"" [Luna Miguel: "Writing and masturbating are ways of entering oneself"]. Córdopolis (in Spanish). 25 January 2021. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  14. ↑ "'Lolita', fuego de nuestras entrañas: un personaje atrapado entre deseo, violencia y censura" ['Lolita', fire of our entrails: a character trapped between desire, violence and censorship]. El País (in Spanish). 4 October 2025. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  15. ↑ Olmos, Alberto (10 December 2021). "'Ternura y derrota': Luna Miguel, los adoquines y el "deseo disidente"" ['Ternura y derrota': Luna Miguel, the cobblestones and "dissident desire"]. El Confidencial (in Spanish). Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  16. ↑ "El lugar y el mito" [The Place and the Myth]. Teatro Madrid (in Spanish). Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  17. ↑ Fanjul, Sergio C. (28 April 2023). "La poeta Luna Miguel lee en público durante 48 horas consecutivas... y sobrevive" [Poet Luna Miguel reads in public for 48 consecutive hours... and survives]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  18. ↑ "Luna Miguel: "Gracias a las redes por fin la poesía es para todos. Estamos en el buen camino"" [Luna Miguel: "Thanks to the internet, poetry is finally for everyone. We are on the right track"]. El Cultural (in Spanish). 20 June 2014. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  19. ↑ Reche, Cristian (13 December 2018). "Giro en Playground: los 'redactores estrella' salen del proyecto" [Shake-up at Playground: the 'star writers' leave the project]. Economía Digital (in Spanish). Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  20. ↑ "Jonás Trueba será el editor invitado en Caballo de Troya 2021" [Jonás Trueba will be the guest editor at Caballo de Troya 2021]. El Cultural (in Spanish). 27 February 2020. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  21. ↑ Miguel, Luna (20 March 2023). "Montserrat Roig: tres vidas, y en ellas todas las vidas" [Montserrat Roig: three lives, and in them every life]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  22. ↑ Riaño, Peio H. (20 June 2021). "Luna Miguel: «La moda de los seguidores se apaga, las editoriales ven que no se traduce en compradores»" [Luna Miguel: "The follower fad is fading; publishers see that it does not translate into buyers"]. Forbes España (in Spanish). Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  23. ↑ Abellán, Tatiana (3 June 2026). "El filósofo del 15-M Ernesto Castro: "Me convertí al catolicismo contra mi voluntad"" [15-M philosopher Ernesto Castro: "I converted to Catholicism against my will"]. El Confidencial (in Spanish). Retrieved 20 August 2026.
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