euskalkultura.eus

 Madrid, Spain.  According to the Etxepare Basque Institute, various activities related to Basque literature will take place in Madrid over the next few days.  The first will be the Madrid Book Fair, this Wednesday, thanks to the Etxepare Basque Institute and the Editors Guild of Euskadi.  There will be a roundtable with the participation of Josu Zabaleta, National Translation Award 2013; Karlos Cid, translator and professor at the University of Complutense; and writers Karmele Jaio and Rikardo Arregi, novelist and poet respectively.

The discussion will address the ways in which Basque literature translates and is assumed by publishers, the Spanish literature market, self-translation, editorial policies, translation funding, the pleasure of translating, relationships between the translator and the writer as well as other literary and linguistic issues that occur when translating Basque to Spanish or other languages.

Oral Literature

The second event will take place on June 9th at the Reader’s House in Matadero, Madrid where Xabier Paya – bertsolari, translator, professor and Basque language and culture researcher – will present his book Anthology of Basque Oral Literature - Euskal ahozko literaturaren. The work reflects the set of oral literary expression in Basque culture through examples of different genres, selected after much analysis.

Asier Altuna, director of the film Bertsolari will accompany him and will share his vision of bertsolaritza, an oral genre that is currently very well supported by today’s Basque society, especially among the young.  Paya and Altuna will be accompanied by Mari Jose Olaziregi, director of the Promotion and Diffusion of Euskera at the Etxepare Basque Institute who will act as moderator.

Finally, these special events will close with the screening of the documentary Bertsolari (Asier Altuna, 2011), on June 9-10^th, at the Cineteca in Matadero, Madrid.  The director will also attend the screenings and will also participate in discussions following the movie.