Europe's Hottest New Artists

Javier Calvo
Writer, Barcelona

Known for his boundary-pushing novels, Javier Calvo has always had a hybrid identity as both a Spaniard and a Catalan. And then there’s the matter of language. “Writing in Spanish, you’re in the same category as a Chilean or Mexican writer,” he explains. Ultimately, though, he’s a lifelong resident of Barcelona, the city at the center of the noirish Wonderful World (HarperCollins, $28), Calvo’s first novel to be translated into English. “Barcelona is traditional in that everything is determined by social class. I wanted to explore the gap between the bourgeois uptown and the working-class downtown areas. It’s almost two different cities.” As for his own rapidly gentrifying El Raval neighborhood, Calvo sees it as something of a bittersweet case study. “El Raval has a history of freedom, nightlife, and anarchism, but that legacy is sadly disappearing. This seems to be happening around the world as differences are slowly being erased.” —Sarah Wildman

Calvo’s Barcelona

L’Antic Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau “This Gothic former hospital holds a library, language institute, art school, café, and many mysterious corners to discover, such as a gorgeous 18th-century operating room.”

Carrer de Joaquín Costa “Once infamous—a notorious serial killer lived here—this street is now lined with El Raval’s best bars. My favorite is the ‘Berlin-style’ (dark and industrial) Benidorm Bar.”

Mam i Teca and La Reina del Raval “There has been an amazing revival of traditional Catalonian food. My favorite spots are Mam i Teca, for tapas, and La Reina, for well-priced seafood.”