Last year´s grant-winners available at bookshops in 2023

Throughout 2022, Basque literature continued to make its mark on the international stage. Novels, essays, comics, poetry, children’s and young adult literature, fiction and non-fiction for adults... Basque authors published a wide range of works last year and the Etxepare Basque Institute subsidised the translation of several of them. Promoting the translation of Basque literature is a fundamental aspect of the Institute´s mission. Four translations have already been published so far this year.

The Institute has allocated a total of 34,237 euros euros towards the translation of 17 books in 2022. Books by Basque writers have been translated into Spanish, Catalan, Galician, English, French, German, Armenian, Bulgarian, Serbian and Slovenian, some of them translated into more than one language. All of them are set to be published in 2023.

In 2022, a total of twenty books were successfully published, thanks to the grants provided by the Etxepare Basque Institute´s call for proposals in 2021. The original language of the translated books was Basque in 19 cases and English in one.

The works translated into Spanish were Miren Agur Meabe’s novel ´Itsasoaren atea’ (La puerta del mar; Edebé publishers); an essay titled ´Baginen´ (Éramos; Txalaparta publishers) by Cira Crespo; the novel ´Santa Familia´ (Grafito publishers) by Eider Rodríguez; the essay ´Kontrako eztarritik´ (Reverso) by Uxue Alberdi (Reikiavik publishers), and Joxemari Iturralde’s novel ´Jamaicako neska´ (La chica de Jamaica; El Desvelo publishers).

Translated into English were the graphic novel ‘Iñurrategi anaiak, mendiari bihotz emanak’ (The Iñurrategi Brothers: Hearts Devoted to the Mountains) by Ramón Olasagasti, and Koldo Izagirre’s novel ‘Altzoko handia’ (The Giant of Altzo; Oihu Hau Musika publishers).

Bernardo Atxaga’s novel ‘Obabakoak’ and his ‘Poemak eta hibridoak’ were translated into Serbian and published by the Treоi Trg publishing house.

Joseba Sarrionandia’s novel ´Ainhoari gutunak´ (Pol.len) was translated into Catalan, as was Leire Bilbao’s collection of poetry ´Hainbat poema/Saliva´ (Edicions 96).

Bernardo Atxaga’s ´Obakakoak´ was also translated into the Aragonese language by Xordika publishers) and his novel ´Nevadako egunak´ (Nevada Days) was translated into Danish (Aurora Boreal); Leire Bilbao’s poetry collection ‘Poemak’ was translated into Greek (Vakxicon); ´Euskal Herrietako ipuinak´ by Juan Kruz Igerabide was translated into Arabic (Dar Alrafidein); Joseba Sarrionandia’s book of poetry ‘Prisions and Exiles’ was translated into Armenian (Vogi-Nairi Arts Center); ‘Miñan’ by Amets Arzallus and Ibrahima Balde was translated into German (Suhrkamp); Eider Rodríguez’s ´Santa Familia´ was translated into Portuguese (A Seita); and Joseba Sarrionandia’s novel ‘Kolosala izango da’ was translated into Bulgarian (Plamar).

2023 Harvest

Publication has begun of the translations subsidised in 2022. Among the translated works are, for example, Eider Rodríguez’s novel ´Materials de construcció´, translated into Catalan by Pau Joan Hernández, working with the publishing house Periscopi. Translated from Basque to Spanish were the poetry collection ‘Mundua Betetzen zenuten/ Llenabais el mundo by Teresa Irastortza, translated by the author herself and published by Olifante. Eider Rodríguez translated her own work into Spanish, ´Material para la construcción´, published by Random House. And lastly, Dani Fano translated into Spanish ‘Kortsarioen ostatua’ (La taberna de los corsarios), a graphic novel he created alongside Guillermo González, published by Grafito editorial. The rest of the translations funded by the Etxepare Basque Institute will be published in 2023.

Each year the Etxepare Basque Institute provides grants for translating work written in Basque into other languages. One of the institute´s main lines of work is to foster the translation of Basque literature.