ANA MARÍA MATUTE: A TRANSLATION OF SIX SHORT STORIES FROM THE COLLECTION HIS TORIAS DE LA ARTÁMILA

Abstract

"Everything — or almost everything — I've related in this book has happened to me or to people I met a long time ago..." Ana María Matute, one of Spain's most prolific and iconic writers of the 20th century, chooses these words to introduce her reader to the literary world of her making in a collection of short selections entitled Stories of the Artámila. These works are autobiographical and occurred during her recovery from chronic kidney problems in her childhood. This onset of this condition prompted her parents to remove her from their native city of Barcelona for a period of respite and recuperation. As a result, she was sent to live with her grandparents in a small town in the mountains, Mansilla de la Sierra in the province of La Rioja in northern Spain. The characters, experiences and places she shares with her readers in this collection are factual, and as a result they ring with an air of truth and genuineness that provides depth and meaning to the themes and message which pervade her work. There are twenty-two stories in the complete collection; of these, I have chosen six in order to present to the English-speaking community the opportunity to relish an accurate sampling of her work that extols the genius of her literary craft.