Basques in Boise

The Center for Basque Studies of the University of Reno, Nevada, in the United States announced recently the publication of Two Basque Stories by internationally acclaimed author Bernardo Atxaga.

The book presents for the first time in English two of the author''s novellas previously published in Euskara, the Basque language, "Two Letters All at Once" and "When a Snake Stares at a Bird."

These stories, originally published in Euskara after the publication of Obabakoak, cemented the popularity of Atxaga in his homeland. The volume was translated by Nere Lete, a Basque Studies professor at Boise State University, in Idaho.

Bernardo Atxaga broke onto the international scene with the 1988 publication of Obabakoak in Basque. The novel has been published in 25 languages, including an English edition (Vintage, 1994), and earned the author Spain''s top narrative prize among many other awards. That book was praised in The Observer of London as "a brilliant novel, full of life," and by The New York Times Book Review as a "delicious paella, Baroque and Spanish."

In Two Basque Stories, Atxaga turns his attention to complex lives lived in the "rustic" Basque village of Obaba (reminiscent of Faulkner''s mythical Yoknapatawpha County) and the creative process of identity. The first novella, "Two Letters All at Once," tells the story of Old Martin, a former sheepherder consigned to a generic Boise neighbourhood. In order to make sense of his life, Martin narrates for an un-understanding grandson the life-altering deception that led him from his native village to the American West.

In "When a Snake Stares at a Bird," a young city-bred boy spending time in his grandfather''s village comes to realize that things he once believed to be simple: nature, animals, and his grandfather, are much more complex than he could have imagined. Evocative illustrations by Antton Olariaga compliment these at once simple and deceptively complex stories.

It has been a busy year for Atxaga in English. In February, his novel The Accordionist''s Son was published by Graywolf Press. In a starred review, Publisher''s Weekly called the book "a gorgeous and ambitious story about the Basque land and language," and The New York Times said it was "a sprawling novel about the legacy of civil war in Spain." And the Fall 2009 issue of the acclaimed California arts journal The Threepenny Review presents Atxaga''s "The Mystery of the Four Birds."