We’re pleased to kick off Issue 101 with a story by Carribean Fragoza, Tortillas Burning.  As our protagonist states at the beginning, “It’s hard to imagine what kind of thing might happen that would knock you back to where your grandmother had been.”  But it becomes clear that a link is there, that ancestry binds. In gritty and dazzling prose, Fragoza weaves her tale.

And from Germany we have Vaspersky’s Flattriols by Kathrin Schmidt, translated by Sue Vickerman. Well known in Germany, her writing is just beginning to appear in English translation. In this short piece of only a page and a half, where the prose pops off the page, we learn why composer Vaspersky sweats so much — not soon to be forgotten.   

Next up is Sara Ray’s The Digging Method.  Here we are presented with the case of a missing young woman whose friend has long been suspected of involvement in her disappearance, but is he guilty?  It’s a delight to follow the unraveling of the mystery.

In Ice Man, Patrick Strickland deftly depicts a young slacker, recently landed in L.A., whose roommate soon shows signs of addiction and no doubt PTSD. As he saves money to make his escape and set up on his own, a series of events threatens his plan and tests his loyalty.

Last up is Promenade by Pamela Gwyn Kripke. Who doesn’t love a good story featuring a dog?  In this case a Lab named Marvin. He isn’t easy to walk because he likes to take in everything, but he has the perfect master and Kripke finds just the right tone to show them off on one particularly memorable day.

 In our picks from back issues we have Mose in the Morning by Molly Giles (issue 84), and Coming of Age (issue 51) by Welsh writer Niall Griffiths. Two superb stories.
 
Our quiz this issue is Contemporary Cuban Writers. Test your knowledge and you’re in the running to win a 30-euro gift certificate from Amazon. For answers to last issue’s quiz, Contemporary Puerto Rican Writers, click here.

Our book reviews this issue are Last Words on Earth by Javier Serena, translated by Katie Whittemore; and Barcelona Dreaming by Rupert Thomson, the former paying homage to Roberto Bolaño; the latter, to our amazing city of Barcelona.

Our next issue is due out in February 2022. To be notified when new issues are available, just ‘LIKE’ The Barcelona Review on Facebook (for the Spanish, LIKE Barcelona Review without the THE); or email us to subscribe (gratis, of course), though often our bulk email is blocked from servers so we cannot guarantee a notification.

Jill Adams, editor
Michael Garry Smout, tech and design
Rachel Ballenger, Sam Simon: assistant editors
Rachel Ballenger, Hanna Bartels, Madeleine Davis, Michael Ferlazzo, Jamie Kahn, Milena Nigam and Sam Simon: readers

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