Glass Eye

Description

Born in Quito, Basque Country, in 1962, she won the Criticism Prize in 2001 and 2011 for her poetry books (The Sign of the Body) and (Foam in the Hands), as well as the Basque Children’s Literature Prize on three occasions. As a writer and poet, she has participated in international forums and festivals, including the Dublin Literature Festival in 2003, the Slovenian Literature Festival in 2006, the Edinburgh Festival in 2007, the Central European Festival in 2016, and the Miami Book Fair in 2016. In 2015, she received a grant for writing and translation in New York. She has translated several books of poetry and novels from French into Basque. In 2018, she received the Basque Country Translation Prize for her translations of international children’s literature. Her novel, Glass Eye, which we translate and publish here, won two literary prizes for Basque literature—the Zapicali and the Petrico Libero—and has been translated into several languages, including Spanish, French, and English. Why am I talking about all this? It’s a challenge I posed because a publisher had baited me a long time ago. That’s what made the challenge fun.
– Are you kidding me? Don’t say that seriously.
– Think about it… Maybe your glass eye will inspire you.
– If the detail of my eye makes me a writer, so be it… But… Ah! You’re speaking metaphorically, aren’t you?
– Not at all. Doesn’t having one eye affect you in your daily life? Write about it, but do it like you’re using a razor blade.
One thing to keep in mind. I spoke to the publisher in question a short while ago. I commented on the plot above: “The narrative is centered on broken emotions, and the glass eye is a symbol. You know, it’s a particular feature that my disappointments will represent.”