THE BARCELONA REVIEWInternational Review of Contemporary FictionJan - Feb 2000image to go with Tendernesschip by Juan Abreu
BARCELONA REVIEW
                                             

                           international review of contemporary fiction: jan - feb 2000 

Welcome readers to the 21st Century and to the new fiction of the millennium. This issue we kick off with a futuristic story by Cuban-American Juan Abreu taken from his upcoming novel Garbageland and available here for the first time in translation. An appropriate counterpoint to Abreu's evolutionay vision is  Norman Lock's "In the Time of the Comet," an inventive reverie at the beginning of the 20th century in which Freud, Matisse and others frolic together and speculate on what's to come.  In translation from the French we have fiction from the well-known gay writer Guillaume Dustan, whose story takes us into the gay Parisian club scene; while U.S. writer Richard Peabody (editor of the ever-popular Gargoyle Magazine) offers an amusing story of the here and now, as does new writer Len Kruger (U.S.) in his deftly crafted piece "Hotline."

In poetry we’re delighted to have three poems by John Giorno, who will be reading here in Barcelona this January 13th. One of the most innovative and influential figures of 20th century poetry, Giorno was the originator of Performance Poetry. For his ground-breaking achievements, including the use of technology and multi-media in the realm of poetry, he is the perfect candidate to carry the torch into the new millennium.

The winner of last issue’s Beckett Quiz is Stephen Blower, a student at the University of Missouri where he is finishing his MA in Religious Studies before beginning law school. His choice of book as prize: Samuel Beckett and the Arts: Music, Visual Arts, and Non-Print Media, edited by Lois Oppenheim. A big congratulations to Stephen - no one else came close.

This issue we have a Lorca Quiz, inspired by the new biography by Leslie Stainton (see reviews). We will accept entries until midnight Feb. 29th. As usual, the winner receives a free book of choice of anything relating to the subject.

Beginning this issue we’ll run an update of Michael Garry Smout’s article "Barcelona, a Year in the Life of . . ." (first appearing in Issue 11), focusing on the two-month period of the present issue. Want to know what goes on here in January and February? Here it is.

Check out our book reviews, newly updated Links Page, and have a wander through our Back Issues where all past material is stored and easily accessible. For more fiction set in the new millennium, check out these three stories from our back issues if you missed them first time round: Douglas Coupland’s "Fire in the Ativan Factory," which takes place New Year’s Eve 1999; Michael Faber’s "Fish" and Lenny T’s "Music as Weapon."

See you again around the first week of March,

Saludos,

Jill Adams,
Editor


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original drawing by MARCELÉ over the top of a photo of U2 in concert and a heavy mix of Photoshop. Thought for the month: How much hard drive space and RAM would be needed if Microsoft made Photoshop?

contents
short fiction:

Juan Abreu
Tendernesschip

Guillaume Dustan
Serge the Beauty
& Rendezvous

Len Kruger
Hotline

Norman Lock
In the Time of the
Comet

Richard Peabody
Essence of Mitchum

poetry:

John Giorno
Three Poems

article:
A Year in Barcelona
January & February

quiz:
Federico García Lorca

Answers to last
issue's Samuel
Beckett quiz

book reviews:

Lorca:
A Dream of Life
Leslie Stainton

Music For Torching
A.M. Homes

Babel:
new writing;
introduced by
Andrew Motion

book reviews
from previous issues

back issues

Two year's worth of short fiction, plays & interviews from such diverse talents as Douglas Coupland, Irvine Welsh, Pinckney Benedict, Scott Heim, A.M. Homes, Alan Warner, Poppy Z. Brite, Laura Hird, Elissa Wald, Jason Starr, Brian Evenson and new kids on the Net like William Cuthbertson, Aimee Krajewski, Jean Kusina, David Alexander, Lenny T and Victor Saunders. Essays include a look at bookcovers from the author's viewpoint.