Bernardo Atxaga

Asteasu (Basque Country), 1951. He has published, among others, the following books in basque: Bi anai (1985), Obabakoak (1988, Euskadi Literature Award, Spanish Premio Nacional de Narrativa, finalist at the IMPAC European Literary Award), Gizona bere bakardadean (1993), Zeru horiek (1995), Soinujolearen semea (2003, Grinzane Cavour Award, Mondello Award, Times Literary Supplement Translation Prize), Lekuak (2005), Zazpi etxe Frantzian (2009, One of the twenty best fictional novels published in the USA during 2012 according to Publishers Weekly, and finalist for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize 2012), Paradisua eta katuak (2012), Nevadako egunak (2013) eta Txoriak kolpeka (2014). His work has been translated to 32 languages and three of his novels turned into films: Obaba (2005), directed by Montxo Armendariz, Zeru horiek (2006), by Aizpea Goenaga and Bi anai (2011), directed by Imanol Rayo. He is also a member of Euskaltzaindia, the Basque Language Academy, and director of Erlea journal.

Interview: Iñaki Gabarain

After taking his degree in Hispanic Philology and Documentation by the University of Salamanca, he studied in Columbia and Princeton universities. He has been lecturer and researcher at the Literary Theory and Comparative Literature area of the University of Salamanca and in Fundación José Ortega y Gasset from Madrid. He joins Donostia Kultura in 2008, where he is currently the director of Ernest Lluch Cultural Center and the coordinator of Literaktum literary festival.