Harvill Secker scoops ‘wildly inventive’ story collection from film director Almodóvar

Harvill Secker has acquired The Last Dream, 12 formerly unpublished stories from film director Pedro Almodóvar’s personal archive, written between the late ’60s and the present day.

Senior editor Ellie Steel acquired UK and Commonwealth rights from Cecilia Palacios at PRH Spain. The Last Dream will be published on Harvill Secker’s Leopards list, in September 2024, in an English translation by Frank Wynne. The book has sold in 20 territories and will be published by Harper Via in the US.

Described as both a tantalising glimpse into Almodóvar’s creative mind and a masterclass in how to tell a story, the publisher says that the "intimate and mischievous" collection reflects Almodóvar’s obsessions and many of the themes of his cinematic work, spanning genres from autofiction to comedy, parody, pastiche and gothic.

The title story, The Last Dream, is described by the publisher as a beautiful chronicle of the death of Almodóvar’s mother, and other stories include: a love story between Jesus and Barabbas; a cult film director out in search of painkillers on a bank holiday weekend; the primary version of the film "Bad Education"; and a gothic tale of a repentant vampire among monks.

In his introduction to the book, Almodóvar writes: “I’ve been asked to write my autobiography more than once, and I’ve always refused; it’s also been suggested that I let someone else write my biography, but I have always felt somewhat resistant to the idea of a book entirely about me as an individual. I’ve never kept a diary, and whenever I’ve tried, I’ve never made it to page two; in a sense, then, this book represents something of a paradox. It might be best described as a fragmentary autobiography, incomplete and a little cryptic.”

Almodóvar’s films include “All About My Mother”, “Talk to Her” and “Parallel Mothers”. His latest short film, “Strange Way of Life”, a queer Western starring Pedro Pascal and Ethan Hawke, premiered at Cannes earlier this year.

Steel said: “These stories are a real celebration of the relationship between life and art, fiction and reality. Fans of Almodóvar’s films will recognise many of his hallmarks: an artist unafraid to write about our most intimate moments, exploring desire, mortality, loneliness and the pain and glory of artistic creation, laced with playful humour and a deep love of literature and culture. It was thrilling to hear that Pedro has been writing stories since he was a teenager, and we couldn’t be prouder to be publishing his work at Harvill Secker.”