Juan Hormiga is not your stereotypical hard-working ant; he is a master napper who can doze off up to ten times in one afternoon. Fortunately, he also has a talent for storytelling and the other ants often gather around to listen as he recounts his grandfather’s daring exploits. The ants are somewhat surprised, though, when … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: Juan Hormiga
The Bottom of the Sky by Rodrigo Fresán translated from the Spanish by Will Vanderhyden Open Letter Books May 19, 2018 266 pages ** warning: here be spoilers** I’ve got to be honest with you. I seriously don’t know how I’m going to write any kind of coherent review of Fresán’s The Bottom of the … Continue reading Speculative Fiction in Translation: The Bottom of the Sky
1962 is represented in The Society of Authors #TA60 series of classic translations by Jorge Luis Borges, whose surreal prose is often seen as having opened the door to magical realism. The influential Argentine writer was largely unknown in the English-speaking world until he was awarded the prestigious Prix International jointly with Samuel Beckett. The … Continue reading Translators Association – 60 Years of Classic Translations: Labyrinths (1962)
Explaining immigration to children is a challenge. I want my children to have an understanding of the things they hear and the world around them, good and bad. That being said, I also want to protect my child from the most gruesome elements if possible. I turn to books. I have found two recent picture … Continue reading Immigration through the Eyes of a Child
Rodolfo Walsh’s Open Letter to the Military Junta used to be distributed in Argentina as a pamphlet by the historical memory and human rights organizations in the first decade of this century. Today, after the 2015 election of a historical-revisionist administration in Argentina, the transmission of its message and Walsh’s struggle to the new generations is, again, … Continue reading Reading the Argentinean writer of resistance Rodolfo Walsh in the Trump Era
A thrilling journey in search of the legendary malambo dance of Argentina, and one Gaucho who faces the biggest contest of his life Every year, at the height of summer, the remote Argentinian village of Laborde holds the prestigious national malambo contest. Little known outside the Argentinian pampas, the malambo is a centuries-old gaucho dance, … Continue reading Title Pick: A Simple Story by Leila Guerriero
An interview about poetry, memory, and revolution with Argentinian independent publisher, returned exile and political activist Miguel Martínez Naón. (Arturo Desimone’s series on Latin American Poetry for Anomaly and formerly The Drunken Boat. Republished with permission from Anomaly.) Miguel Martínez Naón is an Argentinian editor who forms part of the independent publisher Lamás Médula, … Continue reading Notes on a Return to the Ever-Dying Lands: The Return of Naón
On poems by the disappeared Argentinean child Franca Jarach, and her mother’s recent statements to the German Chancellor. A video on YouTube went viral in Argentina a few weeks ago. It shows one of the May Plaza Mothers, Vera Jarach, coming to meet the visiting German chancellor in Memory Park (Parque de la Memoria). Merkel seems … Continue reading Notes on a Return to the Ever-Dying Lands: Those Without Tombs in Memory Park
2017 Batchelder Honor Book and ALA Notable Book Once upon a time there was a ship that sailed beside the sun with very important people on board. The spirit of reinvention – and the importance we place on things – is beautifully expressed in José Sanabria’s visually evocative story. A steamship makes a journey across … Continue reading USBBY Outstanding International Book Pick: As Time Went By by José Sanabria
