ZALDUA, Iban

(Donostia, 1966)

"I am an historian by training and, at least for now, by profession as well; I teach economic history in Gasteiz, the city where I live.

In 1989 I published my first book, which was written in Spanish, Veinte cuentos cortitos (Twenty Very Short Stories). Then came books in Basque: Ipuin euskaldunak (1999, Basque Short Stories, with G. Markuleta), Gezurrak, gezurrak, gezurrak (2000 Lies, Lies, Lies), Traizioak (2001, Betrayals), and another in Spanish, La isla de los antropólogos y otros relatos (2002, The Anthropologists' Island and Other Short Stories). All of these are books of short stories. In children's literature, I wrote Kea ur gainean (2002, Smoke on the Water), and then a short essay, Obabatiko tranbia. Zenbait gogoeta azken aldiko euskal literaturaz (1989-2001) (2002, The train from Obaba. Some Reflections on Recent Basque Literature), both in Basque.

I consider myself a storyteller; I wouldn't say that stories and novels are opposites, but that they are very different genres. I agree with the writer John Cheever when he says that at the moment of death we tell ourselves a short story, at hat moment there's no time for a novel; I think this is an excellent assertion to highlight the intensity of a short story. However, as Augusto Monterroso said, thankfully, what a story is can never be defined: supposedly the art of writing stories has some rules, but the following is the only true rule: precisely, that rules are meant to be broken".

(Zaldua, I., "Biography", in An Antology of Basque Short Stories, Center for Basque Studies - University of Nevada, 2004).


"Few are the Basque storytellers who have mastered the short-short story as well as Iban Zaldua. Borges' or Calvino's metaliterary stance, or Cortázar's shocking fantasy, among other things, serve as the point of departure for Zaldua's pointed, ironic and humorous stories. And this writer uses his critical scrutiny to fragment topics such as literature, life and Basque reality. Hence, the meaningful titles of his books: Gezurrak, gezurrak, gezurrak (2000, Lies, lies, lies) or Traizioak (2001, Betrayals). Zaldua has shown that he is capable of writing in rich registers and styles, shaping his stories without a single extraneous word. Because of their intensity, Zaldua's short stories will never leave the reader cold; for Zaldua the short story is, as J. Cheever says, what we tell ourselves in the unequivocal moment of death."

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


"As for the narrative genre, which has gained popularity in the last few decades, I would like to point out that the proliferation of literary magazines during the 1980s also contributed to the development of the modern Basque short story. Collections such as Joseba Sarrionandia's Narrazioak (1983), or Bernardo Atxaga's excellent Obabakoak (1988), transported Basque readers to imaginary worlds that had never before been visited in the Basque language. The modern short story further progressed with the publication of Inazio Mujika Iraola's Azukre belazeetan ("On the Sugar Fields", 1987, a collection influenced by the work of Juan Rulfo), and with the gritty realism of Xabier Montoia's work. In any case, although in the last decade authors such as Pello Lizarralde, Iban Zaldua, Karlos Linazasoro or Arantxa Iturbe have published excellent short story collections (...)"

(Olaziregi, M.J., "A Brief Introduction to Basque Literature", in Waking the Hedgehog. The Literary Universe of Bernardo Atxaga, Center for Basque Studies, 2005).


Further information about the author:

© Itzalak: Erein

© Traizioak: Erein