Críticas Magazine

Adriana V. Lopez

Santillana Mourns Isabel Polanco
April 2, 2008

There’s been a great loss in the Spanish publishing world. I’d like to dedicate this blog in memory of Grupo Santillana’s leading lady and chairperson Isabel de Polanco. She passed away on March 29, at 51 years of age, after a fight with cancer that lasted three years. A hard working woman, wife, and mother of four, she was also the daughter of Jesús de Polanco, the founder of  Spain’s most powerful media company Grupo Prisa. Spain’s leading newspaper El Pais, who is also owed by Grupo Prisa, wrote in her obit that she was “working hard” until the very end.

She will perhaps be most remembered for her vision of promoting Santillana’s publishing program throughout the Americas. She was behind the business development of the imprints Alfaguara, Taurus, and Aguilar as well as the force behind the prestigious Premio Alfaguara de Novela prize. It seems she had a talent for cultivating good literature and making it accessible to popular culture—and this made her a favorite among the Spanish-language worlds’ most esteemed writers. At her funeral, writers such as Carlos Fuentes, José Saramago, Juan José Millas, Javier Marías, Clara Sánchez, Arturo Pérez Reverte, and Manuel Rivas were among some of her mourners.

[Above: Queen Isabel and her writers: Polanco laughing with Manuel Vicent and Gabriel García Márquez]

I remember in 2002 when she came to visit Críticas’ offices in New York to support the magazine’s recent launch and the U.S. Spanish-language publishing market in general. She was quite a presence in the room; a no-nonsense and well-spoken person serious about Santillana’s growing presence in the United States. I was surprised that a figure with so much responsibility seemed to have a good sense of humor; LJ and Críticas’ former Publisher Fred Ciporen made her laugh out loud a few times.

Polanco was optimistic about the U.S. Spanish market and when I spoke to her about her tactics at adapting to it for an interview with Publsiher's Weekly, she said she had taken advice from Peter Mayer of Overlook Press on formatting and cover design. In 2000, Santillana launched Punto de Lectura, a paperback imprint for mass market bestsellers. The books use an American cover aesthetic and are the standard U.S. paperback size. She knew that adaptation was key to survival in any new market.

Polanco had gusto and great vision regarding the cultural importance of promoting the Spanish language and books throughout the Americas. Post her death, the director of Spain’s Federation of Editors (FGEE), Antonio María de Ávila also commented on how hard she worked throughout her illness. Polanco was obviously a tough cookie. Ávila was sure to point out that: "She was the only woman to achieve a such a high-powered position within a big Spanish company.

Posted by Adriana V. Lopez on April 2, 2008 | Comments (0)