Ultrasounds: Basque Women Writers on Motherhood

The mother has always been a particularly potent symbol for the Basques. Along with the home, she has been seen as a repository of cultural values and a bulwark for traditional ways of life. In Ultrasounds: Basque Women Writers on Motherhood, a wide ranging collection of contemporary women short story writers take on the subject of motherhood from a variety of perspectives, unique voices, and styles. The collection opens with Aurelia Arkotxa's micro-stories, which explore various aspects of motherhood in condensed fragments or "sparks." In "The Shopping Cart," Uxue Apaolaza larrea challenges the notion of a mother as the family's foundation; Miren Agur Meabe uses myth and fable to illuminate the role of the woman as creator of language in her stories about Doltza; Irati Elorrieta explores multicultural relationships and motherhood in "Torn Landscapes," and Karmele Jaio Eiguren and Katixa Agirre Miguélez explore different types of motherhood altogether in "Ultrasounds" and "Guy Fawkes's Treason," respectively. These stories and many others bring a vibrant community of women writers who are exploring the notions of their culture and many others into English for the first time. With a comprehensive introductory essay by Gema Lasarte.