Keynote address ANDRÉS NEUMAN

"Personal Dictionary: Rediscovering the World, Word by Word"

In this keynote talk, acclaimed Argentine-Spanish writer Andrés Neuman weaves together his two most recent works to reflect on language as both an intimate and collective map. Drawing from the experience of witnessing his son acquire language—a remarkable journey where each word opens a new world—Neuman explores how a child’s learning returns us to the original magic of naming things, a theme captured in A Father is Born. At the same time, he shares his fascination with the life of María Moliner, the protagonist of his latest novel, Until It Begins to Shine. Her monumental lexicographic work on the Dictionary of Spanish Usage not only transformed the study of the language, but also represents a passion for words as an act of resistance and love. “Between the personal and the universal, this lecture invites us to rethink language as a living territory, where the personal, the creative, and the political come together in every syllable.”