Bernardo Atxaga's 'Obabakoak' succeeds in USA

The fourth edition of Bernardo Atxaga''s Obabakoak is achieving great success in the USA, according to several American sources. The latest edition of Atxaga''s novel (Graywolf publishing company) reached American bookstores some months ago.

Thus, according to Alfaguara publishing company, American audicence "show a deep interest for Atxaga''s works and in particular, for Obabakoak ".

HTMLGIANT website, one of the most famous ones dedicated to literature, has also paid attention to this new edition of Obabakoak. Also PowellsBook blog, one of the main bookstore chains in USA and also Zoran Rosko''s blog which described Atxaga as "a brilliant writer".

Bernardo Atxaga broke onto the international scene with the 1988 publication of Obabakoak in Basque. The novel has been published in 25 languages, including an English edition (Vintage, 1994), and earned the author Spain''s top narrative prize among many other awards. That book was praised in The Observer of London as "a brilliant novel, full of life," and by The New York Times Book Review as a "delicious paella, Baroque and Spanish."

Atxaga was born in Asteasu, Gipuzkoa (Basque Country), in 1951. He received a diploma in economics from the University of Bilbao, and studied philosophy at the University of Barcelona. He worked as an economist, bookseller, professor of the Basque language, a publisher, and a radio scriptwriter until 1980 when he dedicated himself completely to writing.