Ultrasounds: Basque Women Writers on Motherhood - Paperback

by Gema Lasarte (Editor), Nere Lete (Translator), Linda White (Translator)

The mother has always been a particularly potent symbol for the Basques. Along with the home, she has been seen as a repository of cultural values and a bulwark for traditional ways of life. In Ultrasounds: Basque Women Writers on Motherhood, a wide ranging collection of contemporary women short story writers take on the subject of motherhood from a variety of perspectives, unique voices, and styles. The collection opens with Aurelia Arkotxa's micro-stories, which explore various aspects of motherhood in condensed fragments or "sparks." In "The Shopping Cart," Uxue Apaolaza larrea challenges the notion of a mother as the family's foundation; Miren Agur Meabe uses myth and fable to illuminate the role of the woman as creator of language in her stories about Doltza; Irati Elorrieta explores multicultural relationships and motherhood in "Torn Landscapes," and Karmele Jaio Eiguren and Katixa Agirre Miguélez explore different types of motherhood altogether in "Ultrasounds" and "Guy Fawkes's Treason," respectively. These stories and many others bring a vibrant community of women writers who are exploring the notions of their culture and many others into English for the first time. With a comprehensive introductory essay by Gema Lasarte.

Author Biography

Nere Lete earned her MFA in translation from the University of Iowa and
is currently an associate professor of Basque and director of the Basque
Studies Minor at Boise State University. She has translated many Basque
writers including Bernardo Atxaga, Eider Rodriguez, Jokin Muñoz, Jose
Antonio Loidi, and Xabier Lete. Her translations have been published by
the Center for Basque Studies (UNR), Hayden's Ferry Review (Arizona
State University) and Inventory (Princeton University). She has also
worked as a voice-over actress and script adaptor for Basque television.
She translated all of the stories for this book except for the
previously published story "A Draft."