Basque literature in The Riveter

The April issue of The Riveter magazine featured a section on contemporary Basque literature titled ´Basque Spotlight´.

The Riveter is a journal devoted to European literature in English. With a focus on contemporary European writing, the idea is to make international writing popular and accessible to readers everywhere.

In collaboration with the Etxepare Basque Institute, the April 2023 issue of The Riveter, which deals with Spanish literature and linguistic diversity, features a chapter on Basque literature. The goal of the Etxepare Basque Institute is to raise the international profile of the Basque language and culture while promoting opportunities for engagement with other communities and languages. The Institute strives to ensure that knowledge of the Basque language is disseminated at international linguistic and cultural events, academic forums, and networks through various programmes, agreements, and actions. In order to disseminate Basque literature internationally, the Institute offers annual grants for literary translation.

The magazine´s Basque Spotlight section includes the work of several Basque writers, as well as excerpts from translated works and reviews of Basque literature.

The section opens with articles by two leading authors. North American poet Elizabeth Macklin writes on translating Basque based on her experience and relationship with the language. An article by Basque author Jon Kortazar addresses the current state of Basque literature.

The Basque Spotlight section also included reviews of contemporary literature written in Basque: ‘Mothers Don´t’ by Katixa Agirre (‘Amek ez dute’, 2019); ‘Mother´s Hands´ (‘Amaren eskuak’, 2006) by Karmele Jaio; ‘Bilbao - New York -Bilbao’ by Kirmen Uribe (2008) and ‘Water Over Stones’ by Bernardo Atxaga (‘Etxeak eta hilobiak’, 2019).

There are also three recommendations for translation of works by Basque authors. The Riveter had a sample from each translated into English for publication in the magazine. The recommended works are ‘Izurdeen aurreko bizitza’ (2022) by Kirmen Uribe, a story titled ´Hesperia, California´ (2007) by Katixa Agirre and a novel, ´Nola izan ginen gauza´ (2021), written by Iban Zaldua.

The last article in the chapter highlights the poem ´Zart´ by Harkaitz Cano. ‘Zart’ was part of the ‘Loti (H) errena´ project by Colectivo *Zart. This musical-literary journey was created by Cano in collaboration with Rafa Rueda and Maite Larburu with music by Iker Lauroba. Elizabeth Macklin translated the poem into English for The Riveter.

The Riveter magazine is free to download in PDF.

Presentation at the British Library in London

The latest issue of The Riveter was released on 25 April at an event at the British Library in London. Writers Karmele Jaio, Rosa Montero, Juan Cruz, Xesús Fraga and Teresa Solana took part in the presentation to represent Basque, Galician, Catalan and Spanish literature. Jaio read several passages from the book ´Amaren eskuak´.