Virginia Woolf

Jorge Luis Borges

Kirmen Uribe

Un cuarto propio

The day he knew he was going to die, Liborio Uribe took his young daughter in law to the Museum of Fine Arts to show her a picture. Liborio had spent his entire life at sea, like his son José, living out unforgettable adventures which would later fade into obscurity. Years after, faced by the same painting, Liborio’s grandson Kirmen, a writer and poet, uses these family stories to write a novel. Bilbao–New York–Bilbao takes place during a flight to New York and tells the story of journeys by three generations of the same family. The key to the book is Liborio’s fishing boat, the Dos Amigos: who are these two friends, and what is the nature of their friendship? Through letters, diaries, emails, poems and dictionaries, Kirmen creates a mosaic of memories and stories that combine to form a homage to a world that has almost disappeared, as well as a hymn to the continuity of life. It is also a reflection on the art of writing, and lies between life and fiction. “Uribe has succeeded in realizing what is surely an ambition for many writers: a book that combines family, romances and literature, anchored deeply in a spoken culture but also in bookishness – and all without a single note of self-congratulation.” – TLS “The novel is set in an absolutely modern territory, the usual place of key writers of our time such as Emmanuel Carrere, WG Sebald, Orhan Pamuk and JM Coetzee.” – Sudouest “This book is as beautiful as a memory.” – Le Figaró “Uribe’s literary proposal is entirely fresh and innovative. A novel of our time. This writer who comes from a ‘small country’ begins his journey through the field of universal literature, searching for transnational communication.” – Mainichi Shimbun “A splendid novel, which the reader acknowledges like a hug.” – El País “Beautiful. It has the rare quality of attending to tradition without sounding like folk, and being modern without rejecting those that were so before.” – ABC “This ingenious and original historiographical novel tells the story of its own writing, as Uribe explores the history of his family and the Basque Country fishing community of which they have long been a part. Framed by the author's plane journey to the States, the web of digressions is mapped by ever-lengthening and constantly entwining cultural tendrils as the family diffuses around the world, led off by his father's trawler. The intersection between truth and storytelling is a particularly potent theme, contrasting the prosaic and the poetic, the pragmatic and the romantic. It's a view from the inside of the novel, looking out upon the reader in consideration of what might prove engaging, a metafictional conceit made engaging by the genial candour of Uribe, or at least his novelistic avatar, as he explores the process of researching and honing his book. Huge credit must go to Wales-based indie Seren Books for bringing this book to English-language readers; it's extraordinary that this winner of Spain's prestigious Premio Nacional de Literatura wasn't picked up by a major publisher.” – Jonathan Ruppin, Foyles Best Fiction: 2014

Bilbao-New York-Bilbao

Bilbao–New York–Bilbao

On a transatlantic flight between Bilbao and New York City, a fictional version of Kirmen Uribe recalls three generations of family history—the inspiration for the novel he wants to write—and ponders how the sea has shaped their stories. The day he knew he was going to die, our narrator’s grandfather took his daughter-in-law to the Fine Arts Museum in Bilbao, the de facto capital of the Basque region of northern Spain, to show her a painting with ties to their family. Years later, her son Kirmen traces those ties back through the decades, knotting together moments from early twentieth-century art history with the stories of his ancestors’ fishing adventures—and tragedies—in the North Atlantic Ocean. Elegant, fluid storytelling is punctuated by scenes from Kirmen’s flight, from security line to airport bar to jet cabin, and reflections on the creative writing process. This original and compelling novel earned debut author Kirmen Uribe the prestigious National Prize for Literature in Spain in 2009. Exquisitely translated from Basque to English by Elizabeth Macklin, Bilbao–New York–Bilbao skillfully captures the intersections of many journeys: past and present, physical and artistic, complete and still unfolding. Bilbao–New York–Bilbao is the second book commissioned for the Spatial Species series, edited by Youmna Chlala and Ken Chen. The series investigates the ways we activate space through language. In the tradition of Georges Perec’s An Attempt at Exhausting a Place in Paris, Spatial Species titles are pocket-sized editions, each keenly focused on place. Instead of tourist spots and public squares, we encounter unmarked, noncanonical spaces: edges, alleyways, diasporic traces. Such intimate journeying requires experiments in language and genre, moving travelogue, fiction, or memoir into something closer to eating, drinking, and dreaming.

Els camions arribaven d'Irlanda, de Dinamarca, a carregar peix.T'agradava pujar en marxa als para-xocs de darrere isaltar quan agafaven velocitat,per fer tres o quatre passes i caure a terra. La publicació d'aquest llibre el 2001, Premi Nacional de la Crítica, va suposar una "revolució tranquil·la" en l'àmbit de la literatura basca i s'ha convertit en un dels llibres de poesia més llegits en euskera. Mentrestant dona'm la mà ("Bitartean heldu eskutik"), disponibletambé en castellà, francès i anglès, va ser premiat en la seva versió anglesa pel PEN American Center com a finalista al millor llibre de poesia traduït del 2007.

Mentrestant agafa'm la mà

The leading contemporary writer in the Basque language offers a collection of poems on themes of love and ordinary living, family history and the deep history of a place, superstition and technology, being native and being an alien.

Meanwhile Take My Hand

Kirmen Uribe narra dos historias cuyas tramas se desarrollan a lo largo de varias generaciones y cuya escritura entrelaza el pasado y el presente. Dos relatos que surgen del País Vasco y se convierten en una historia universal entre padres e hijos. Dos relatos que hilvanan con mimo las escenas, guardan los silencios del olvido y recrean el instante fugaz con la sensibilidad, la ternura y el talento narrativo del Premio Nacional de Narrativa.

Lo que mueve el mundo + Bilbao-New York-Bilbao (pack)

When Liborio Uribe found that he was going to die, he wanted to once again see a painting by Aurelio Arteta, his wife’s father. Liborio had spent his entire life at sea, like his son José, living out unforgettable adventures that fade into obscurity. Years later, faced with the same painting, Liborio’s grandson Kirmen, a writer and poet, uses these family stories to write a novel. Bilbao - New York - Bilbao takes place during a flight to New York and tells the story of journeys of three generations of the same family. Through letters, diaries, e-mails, poems, and dictionaries, it creates a mosaic of memories and stories that form an homage to a world that has almost disappeared, as well as a hymn to the continuity of life. A novel, it is also a reflection on the art of writing, and lies between life and fiction.

Kirmen Uribe

About

Books

Join the club