THE BARCELONA REVIEW
an International Review of 
Contemporary Fiction

issue 19
July - August 2000

Buskers out in full force, crusties in residence at Plaça Reial, the international backpack circuit swelling the streets and hostels, purse snatchers working overtime on the Ramblas - must be summer in Barcelona! Here’s some reading for the beaches or for that rough winter down under or wherever you may be. . . . just print out and pull up a chair. We have two ‘Gordon’ stories by U.K.’s James Meek from his collection The Museum of Doubt, published by Rebel Inc. There are six Gordon stories interspersed in the collection and if these two don’t pull you in, you’ve probably dropped by the wrong review. As The Times wrote: "Meek has a gift for the surreal. . . It is rather as though David Lynch had been let loose on the set of a drawing-room comedy." From Canada we have an amusing piece by Lynn Coady that appears in her new collection which portrays small town people in the Canadian outback; and from Scotland we have a story by David Ewen, one of the winners from last year’s Canongate Prize contest in which the theme was "Scotland in the New Era." This year the theme is "Sin"- and the contest is now open internationally. Fifteen winners will receive £2,000 each and appear in the print publication, so writers put your head to the seven deadlies: you’ve got until August 31st to submit your sins. Check out www.canongate.net for full details.

We’re also delighted to have an original story and interview with Patricia Anthony, well-known U.S. author in the sci-fi field, who has recently departed from that genre with her seventh novel, Flanders. Sara Martin, teacher of English literature at the Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona, conducted an in-depth interview with Anthony with a special focus on the first novel, Brother Termite, about an alien invasion; and the latest, which takes us to the trenches of World War 1.

And last of all, it is with pleasure that we present new writer Abel Diaz from the U.S. His story, a first-ever publication, hit the mark with us all.

Our pick from Back Issues, if you missed it last time round, is "Threshold" by Cuban-American Juan Abreu, an erotic short story á la Bataille, translated from the Spanish by Graham Thomson.

Under Essay, Barbara Lefcowitz (U.S.) returns with one of her ‘triads,’ part of a series in which she juxtaposes three seemingly disparate objects or ideas and tries to work out their interconnections. It’s an imaginative feat that shows by example the unlimited range of possibilities available to the writer who dares.

Our quiz this issue is on Toni Morrison. Jump in and give it a try. If you haven’t caught up with all seven of her novels, now is the time. The winner receives a free book of choice. No winners from our Faulkner Quiz of last issue, sorry to say, but close calls from Jim Strachan and Lee Klein. Click here for the answers.

We’ll be back around the first week of September. If you would like to be notified of new issues, click here.

Saludos,

s
Jill Adams, editor E
i

supported by: tor

Three  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.

| español | català | français | book reviews | back issues |
| submission info | BR info | links |