Eugene Fischer

Tag: Arrate Hidalgo

Nueva Madre Nominated for Premio Ignotus Award

Nueva Madre, Arrate Hidalgo’s Spanish translation of “The New Mother,” is on the final ballot for the Premio Ignotus award, an honor voted on by members of the Asociación Española de Fantasía, Ciencia Ficción y Terror, its partner organizations, fans who opted into an open enrollment period for participation, and members of the Hispacón convention. I’m in the category for Best Foreign Story, which as I understand it is for any translated work shorter than novel length that was first published in Spain in the past year. The other nominees for the category include familiar names Rachel Swirsky and Aliette de Bodard, an author named Michael Wehunt with whom I wasn’t previously familiar as he seems to write mostly horror, and one other.  The fifth nominee, to my astonishment, is Louisa May Alcott, for the Spanish translation of “The Abbot’s Ghost.”

Never in my life did I expect to be able to say I was in competition with Louisa May Alcott for a literary award (though Nueva Madre certainly offers a new take on the notion of little women). So for that novelty, as well as the nomination itself, I’m grateful for all the Premios Ignotus voters.

Reviews for Nueva Madre en Español

Editorial Cerbero’s Spanish edition of “The New Mother” (translated by Arrate Hidalgo) has been out for a few months now, and Nueva Madre‘s reception by its Spanish readership has been supremely heartening. The Goodreads responses—which I’ve never felt a desire to read for my publications in English, but discover I’m fascinated by now that I’m in translation—have been consistently positive. My most common reason for signing into Twitter lately has been to see if Arrate has flagged a new review for my attention.

The first one I can recall seeing was David Pierre’s review on his personal site. Machine translation informs me that he recommends the book, and says, “Nueva madre is a short science fiction novel that, in a masterly way, poses a future that seems odd to us, but that could destroy us as a society.”

Miriam Beizana at A Librería is not a frequent reader of SF, and seems skeptical of novella-length fiction, but seems to have enjoyed Nueva Madre despite those reservations. She says something that Google thinks means:

I have read many precious short novels that I will recommend ad nauseam. Virginia Woolf is an expert in this format, I could also quote The Hours of Michael Cunningham; or in a more indie look There are no fair men left in Sodoma by J. Font and the wonder of O derradeiro book by Emma Olsen by Berta Dávila. I can not avoid making a comparison between these titles and Yabarí , Mud or Chlorophilia . While the first ones remain as a reminiscence in my head, the seconds have a more fleeting life in my memories.

I have to say that with New Mother , maybe, maybe, I have found in this little book what I hope to find in a novel of these characteristics. Noting, that yes, that the 187 pages indicated in the technical sheet would be about 100 in a more common A5 size, which the achievement is even greater.

Ester Barroso Jaime wrote a review that I actually have a human translation of, thanks to my mother posting it on Facebook and getting a reply from a bilingual friend. They write:

Not all writers are so brave when it comes to writing, but Fischer is in The New Mother. With mastery, the author puts the finger on the sore spot, he makes the reader wonder and question things; he leads him, page after page, to think about the possibility that he has created. To what we give for granted and normal, he gives it a whole turn demonstrating that the meaning of “normal”, in any field, is arbitrary. And what is worse: the things that humans are capable of doing in order to maintain that structure called “normal”. Who are the monsters then? The “normal” ones who prefer to walk on the safe side or those who suffer from this pathology? Survival in its pure state is served.

It’s lovely to see a new group of readers engage with my story. Gracias a todos ustedes que compartieron sus reacciones a Nueva Madre.

Nueva Madre now available from Editorial Cerbero

It’s out! You can now buy a copy of Nueva Madre of your very own to enjoy en español, translated by the inimitable Arrate Hidalgo. It’s listed as a novela corta, or “short novel,” which I suppose makes me a short novelist. Seems accurate.

I can’t wait to get my hands on one of these beauties. The publisher describes the work thusly:

Partenogénesis Humana Contagiosa. Síndrome del Gameto Diploide. Lleva, al menos, cinco años sucediendo, sea cual sea el nombre que se le dé. Mujeres en edad fértil que corren el riesgo de quedar embarazadas de manera espontánea cada vez que ovulan. Mujeres que tienen hijas que, técnicamente, son clones de sí mismas. Algunos lo llaman epidemia, otros milagro, y hay quien se lleva las manos a la cabeza arguyendo que significará la extinción de los hombres. Tess Mendoza, periodista independiente, lleva mucho tiempo siguiendo la noticia, entrevistando a todos los que parecen tener algo que decir al respecto. ¿Es una enfermedad? ¿Es lícito considerar seres humanos a estas mujeres y a sus hijas? ¿Existe algún riesgo para su propio embarazo, fruto de un donante anónimo?

Which I think translates to something like:

Contagious Human Parthenogenesis. Diploid Gamete Syndrome. Whatever you call it, it’s been happening for at least five years.Women of childbearing age who run the risk of becoming pregnant spontaneously each time they ovulate. Women who have daughters who, technically, are clones of themselves. Some call it an epidemic, others a miracle, and some people put their hands to their heads, arguing that it means the extinction of men. Tess Mendoza, an independent journalist, has been following the story for a long time, interviewing all those who seem to have something to say about it. It is a disease? Is it permissible to consider these women and their daughters as human beings? Is there any risk to her own pregnancy, the result of an anonymous donor?

Purchase it from Editorial Cerbero here.

Cover reveal for Nueva Madre

Here’s what the Spanish edition of “The New Mother” is going to look like. It’s the work of Cecilia García, and I adore it. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen an image of Tess, and she looks so much like she did in my head. I love the press badge, and the little picture of identical GDS siblings on her phone, and her wavy hair, and I especially love the uncertain look on her face. The bustle and blur of the city rising behind her is perfect, suggestive of the complex interplay of social forces Tess tries to navigate as she moves through the story. And that bright, full moon dominating the human skyline and framing the main character is symbolic of the themes in ways I’m sure don’t require elaboration. I’m also very pleased to see not just my name on there, but also Arrate Hidalgo’s, without whom Nueva Madre would not exist.

This beautiful thing will be available from Editorial Cerbero in November.

Spanish edition of “The New Mother” forthcoming from Cerbero Press

The contracts are signed and tweeted, so now it can be revealed that the Spanish press Cerbero will be publishing Nueva Madre, the Spanish edition of “The New Mother.” It will be available in November, in paperback and as an e-book. More details on that soon.

This never would have happened without the phenomenal Arrate Hidalgo, who translated the story and championed its publication. In addition to working as a professional translator and as an associate editor for Aqueduct Press, Arrate writes journalism about the Spanish SF scene, such as this article published just yesterday on women’s voices in ciencia ficción, “La Invasión de las Mujeres Invisibles.”