CILLERO, Javi

(Bilbo, 1961)

My name is Javi Cillero. That will not tell you much, so I'd better add some detail. I studied journalism and translation at university in the Basque Country, and have a Ph.D. in Basque Literature from the University of Nevada, Reno. Detective fiction is my speciality, or perhaps I should say my guilty pleasure?

I have translated works by Mark Twain, Roald Dahl, Charles Dickens, Robert Bloch, Ross McDonald, Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald into Basque. I have also written a couple of books for children: Eddy Merckxen gurpila (1994) and Thailandiako noodle izugarriak (2001). And I managed to publish a collection of short stories (Hollywood eta biok (1999)) (1) before the end of the millennium. Just in case.

In my writing I like playing with parallel action, flashbacks and different points of view. In case you hadn't noticed, I really love cinema, it's just that literature is cheaper to produce. I believe in the therapeutic power of storytelling, and that we all have a story to tell. I go about my writing like a Zen painter: for years I hold my brush in front of a white canvas, until one day the long-awaited story announces itself and I try to capture it in a few rapid strokes.

O.K. I'm not there yet, but in the course of my journey I have collected a number of stories. Let's put it this way: life is disguised in literature, yet literature reveals life under its own disguise. Now it is time to read on.

"The past is similarly recovered in two other short stories in this anthology. In Javi Cillero's story A kiss in the dark, from Hollywood eta biok (1998, Hollywood and I), for example, the point of departure is a flashback to adolescence. Hollywood eta biok reflects the influence of US cinema and narrative and in it, the reader will find stories that vary in length and structure, told in Cillero's unornamented prose with humor, irony and skill."

(Olaziregi, M.J., "Foreword", in An Antology of Basque Short Stories, Center for Basque Studies - University of Nevada, 2004).

Further information about the author:

To see the author's translated works, go to the List of Translations from Basque of this website.
The website of EIE (Basque writers' association).
Literaturaren zubitegia, in the website of "armiarma".

(1) English translations of Javi Cillero's book for children are: Following Eddy Merckx and The Incredible Swarming Noodles. The title of his short story collection is Hollywood and Me.