Jose Irazu Garmendia, better known as Bernardo Atxaga, was born in Asteasu, Gipuzkoa in 1951. The landscape and people of this little village marked the author’s childhood. A green mountainous landscape dotted with baserris, or Basque farmhouses, and the sound of people speaking Basque – people who enjoyed telling stories about animals and fantastic events. That is the world that Bernardo Atxaga grew up in, and the world he tried to revisit in his fantastic tales of Obaba – most poignantly in his acclaimed novel Obabakoak.
Jose Irazu Garmendia, better known as Bernardo Atxaga, was born in Asteasu, Gipuzkoa in 1951. The landscape and people of this little village marked the author’s childhood. A green mountainous landscape dotted with baserris, or Basque farmhouses, and the sound of people speaking Basque – people who enjoyed telling stories about animals and fantastic events. That is the world that Bernardo Atxaga grew up in, and the world he tried to revisit in his fantastic tales of Obaba – most poignantly in his acclaimed novel Obabakoak.
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