TE19 Iberian Adventure

Editors’ Welcome

Experimental Portuguese author Gonçalo M. Tavares brings us right into the age of pandemic with My Plague Diary , a series of daily entries musing on life and culture during the Covid-19 lockdown – in this hot-off-the-press translation by Daniel Hahn. Daniel Hahn also discusses his translation practice on Episode 14 of Bowery Poetry Speaks on Trafika Europe Radio. For something different, John Hartley ’s story, “Passing Time in Portugual”, unfolds as the main character explores the Portugal of his grandfather – and youth and old age, restlessness and regret. Spanish author Manual Astur ’s San, the Book of Miracles is a rare, raw, wild tale of crime and ancient longings – with this exclusive preview of the work in English. In RosaOliveira ’ssuperbpoems, thingsetchedand timelesscompete with notions we can’t quite ignore as just and right. This issue is rounded out with two chapters of literature from elsewhere in Europe. In three stories collected here, Hungarian author Gabi Csutak makes use of experiences from her childhood in Romania during the last years of Ceaușescu’s rule to portray the absurdities of dictatorship. Finally, British-Israeli poet and experimental filmmaker Narda AzariaDalgleish reminds us what fine, rigorous verse is still capable of. She is also our featured artist in this issue, with stills from her videos and films throughout the issue and on the cover. We hope you enjoy taking this Iberian Adventure as much as we have! We’ll be rolling out more podcasts featuring Spanish and Portuguese authors in the coming weeks. Please check back here for an up-to- date list.

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