Category: Borrow from the BEO

Bertsolaritza is the art of singing extemporaneously composed songs in improvised stanzas (Bertsoak) in Basque by improvisers known as Bertsolaris. Shooting from the Lip, by Jose Mallea-Olaetxa, is the first bilingual Bersto book printed in America that is dedicated to Basque-American verse singing. Olaetxa beautifully weaves together the history of Berstogintza (the craft), the various bertsolaris, and their impact on the Basque-American identity. 

A fun fact: In June 2003, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) acknowledged four Basque Bertsolaris in the United States for NEA’s National Heritage Fellowships.

The first feature film made in the Basque language in over a decade, Agur Etxebeste! is a comedy about keeping up appearances. The Etxebeste family is well respected in their small Basque town, and are proprietors of a beret factory. But on the eve of their summer holiday to Marbella, they discover that they’re broke. The neighbors mustn’t find out and so they devise a plan which finds them hiding in their flat for the duration.

This is a wonderful peek into the life of Berstolari Joxe Mari Iparragirre, musician, freedom fighter, and author of the unofficial Basque anthem, Gernikako Arbola. For the first time ever, his poetry has been translated into English, offering us a glimpse of Euskal Herria in the mid-1800s through the eyes of a man who lived much of his life in exile, but whose profound love and pride of home never ceased.

This book is a wonderful tribute to Joan Errea’s father, Arnaud Paris. Originally a series written in the style of Basque Bertsolari, it has been translated into English. This heartfelt book includes an introduction by Pello Salaburu, which gives a little background and context for the stories in the book.

“On the prairies of Nevada in a camp that followed sheep,

He taught us how to deal with life although the trails were steep.

On the prairies of Nevada in a camp that followed sheep,

My memories of my father are wonderful and deep.”

Beyond its deeply personal story, this book is a testimony to the ranching way of life in the western United States. There is humor, love, and big personalities. This honest recollection also has illness, injuries, suffering, loss, and death.  There are stories of her brothers, her uncles, and some run-ins with coyotes, cowboys, bears and bulls.  

The foreword has a page with translations of a few Basque words such as Aita means father. There is also a page listing the characters in the book with their real names such as husband is Louis Errea.

The ending is very touching:“Many years have past and still my father’s memory brings tears. It’s been so sweet to write all this. I miss my father’s love and always will.”

A beautiful story told by a son of his father’s immigration from the Basque Country to the United States. Laxalt shares his father’s experience working in Nevada as a sheepherder and after 50 years he and his father go back to the Basque Country together. This book is an easy read; more importantly, Laxalt tells a moving story and brings the reader along to really picture and appreciate the harsh Nevada elements.