The Adventures of Shola, new volume in English

Translated from the Spanish by Margaret Jull Costa (the Spanish text, in turn, was translated by Atxaga himself), The Adventures of Shola has been published by Pushkin Press this week in the United Kingdom. It features the original artwork of Basque illustrator Mikel Valverde.

The book has already received some praise. In the collaborative site The Book Bag, John Lloyd gave it four stars and a half (out of 5) and he wrote:

You can approach Bernardo Atxaga, one of the most renowned Basque-language writers currently working, from two ways. Either start at the literate end, finding out if his voice is unique, his content exotic or universal enough for your tastes, and see if his Basque roots make him special in any way. Or you can just approach him as a wordsmith, and enjoy him enjoying himself, such as with these small children's stories put into this most handsome anthology.

Links:

• The publisher's introduction
• Review in The Book Bag
• On sale in Amazon