Natasha Smith: Where the Hidden Andalusia Trembles

Andalusia at first sight may not look like a particularly magical place, but its rich, romantic folklore has provided inspiration for countless writers. Chief among them is surely Federico García Lorca, and even he, a proud Andalusian, was quick to point out that his poetry was more concerned with the Andalusia of myth than reality. It "hardly expresses visible Andalusia at all," he said, "but where the hidden Andalusia trembles."

It's no surprise that Natasha Smith is passionate about Lorca. Her most recent work, The Legend of Tarifa, is also concerned with the 'hidden Andalusia,' exploring it through poetry, music, song, and dance – a Lorca-like mixture if ever there was one. Set in the Middle Ages, it's "a tale of magic and mermaids and a young man's quest for eternal love." Explaining her unusual choice of subject, Smith says, "I'm fascinated by the enduring power of fairy tales, so I wanted to see if I could recreate that with a modern twist. A mermaid story was a logical choice. When you live by the sea for so long, it's impossible not to be inspired by it."

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“The people of Tarifa are very down-to-earth. If I told them that I was writing about mermaids, they’d look at me as if I were mad” – Natasha Smith

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Although originally from County Kildare, Ireland, Smith spent much of the last decade living in the town of the poem's title. "I feel very blessed to have lived in such a beautiful place and that's part of the inspiration behind The Legend of Tarifa," she explains. "I wanted to write something that was a homage to it, something that could, in a way, immortalise its magic. The people of Tarifa are very down-to-earth. If I told them that I was writing about mermaids, they'd look at me as if I were mad. But from the moment I arrived there, I was transfixed by the magic, history and duality of the place."

Central to Smith's work is the idea of sharing one culture with another. Therefore, the choice of the Cervantes Institute in Manchester – one of its aims being to help promote Spanish culture in the region – as the venue in which to debut The Legend of Tarifa with a group of musicians and dancers later this month seems perfect. This idea also played a part in her choice of collaborators: "It was really important to have a diverse group of nationalities involved," she says. "I'm Irish, Gillian [Menichino], the composer, is American, the musicians are Greek, South African and English. We also have a guitarist and singer, Alberto Beltran, coming from Andalusia to perform specially at the event." While the original idea is Smith's, she wants all the participants to leave their own stamp on the performance, so that "although the poem is a Spanish fairy tale, the final result, music and poetry combined, will be totally unique, inspired by the cultural background of each performer."

Despite her love of Tarifa and its people, Smith recently gave up her life in Andalusia to begin an MA in Creative Writing at the University of Manchester. "It has been an eye-opening experience," she says. And what's it like to be taught by Jeanette Winterson? "She's a pleasure to work with because she's such a champion of the craft of writing," Smith says. "Don't get me wrong, she's a tough taskmaster, she expects you to know the rules, but she encourages you to have the confidence to stand by every word you write. I had a meeting with her back in April and she told me that she asks some student writers what they're hiding from, but there was no need to ask me that. She said, simply, 'keep doing what you're doing,' which I suppose you could take one of two ways: either I'm on the right track or I'm beyond help."