Few debut novels have made as big of an impression in recent years as Out in the Open by Spanish author Jesús Carrasco. He saw his last chance in becoming an author – luckily fate was kind to him (and the readers). Enough reason to visit him in Sevilla, the city of the alleys and the sweltering sun in the south of Spain. We spoke to him on a terrace, were invited for lunch with his family, and met his friends at his allotment garden. Later, in a crowded Amsterdam, we saw the World Cup match Australia-Netherlands with him. ‘How can you have dinner at seven o’clock already?’ he sighed. As a Spaniard, he was not used to have dinner before nine o’clock at night. ‘I would go to sleep with a rumbling stomach.’