Automatically translated from Basque, translation may contain errors. More information here. Elhuyarren itzultzaile automatikoaren logoa

“I have become the process of seeking and not finding motherhood”

  • Among others, Alaine Agirre (Bermeo, 1990) is the author of the novels Cuajada Blood, X has died , Twice gave birth to my mother and Camisón blanco de seda and the book of poems The place where birds do not arrive. Bring the silenced to paper. In September 2021 he published Karena (Elkar, 2021). Two years later Spanish has come: Placenta (Three Sisters Books).
"Nazkatu naiz bata zuriaren atzean ezkutatzen diren eta pertsonei baino gehiago DSM-Vari begiratzen dioten psikiatrak, psikologoak eta bestelako 'profesionalak' entzuteaz". Argazkia: Dani Blanco / ARGIA CC BY-SA
Zarata mediatikoz beteriko garai nahasiotan, merkatu logiketatik urrun eta irakurleengandik gertu dagoen kazetaritza beharrezkoa dela uste baduzu, ARGIA bultzatzera animatu nahi zaitugu. Geroz eta gehiago gara, jarrai dezagun txikitik eragiten.
Literatura gotorleku

"Paperean eskribitzen ikasi aurretik 'idazten' nuela uste dut, gehiago bizi bainintzen asmatzen nituen istorioen munduan, kanpokoan baino. Gogoan dauzkat sei urteren bueltan irakurri nuen lehen testua eta idatzi nuen lehen ipuintxoa, zerbait handia bezala sentitu nituelako biak. Hortik aurrera, liburuei eta koaderno baten barruei begira bizi izan nintzen. Zaila egiten zitzaidan patioan egotea, nire adinkideekin harremantzea, kiroletan ibiltzea... eta eskolako liburutegian ezkutatzen nintzen. Eskola orduetatik kanpo ere liburuen mundua zen nire lekurik gogokoena. Gotorlekua izan zen niretzat literatura, haize eta euri eta hotz sentitzen nuen kanpoaldetik babesteko".

What have been your referents?I only did a
lot of the way to educate in reading – taking away a couple of teachers I remember and have in my heart – and that is a pity, that I would not have helped develop literary competence.

What about feminism?
I felt it in a similar way. The interior asked me to go there, but I didn't know where to start. In one of them, I discovered Miquel Missé and started reading with feminism. I entered feminism from the transfeminismo.Los referents have traveled because I took them according to the curiosity and necessity I have had at the moment, but over time I return to

Annie Ernaux, I am surprised that even though I change, I do not change the complexity of what I feel when reading. On the other hand, the names of all references do not appear on the covers of the books. Today, for example, my therapist is a benchmark for me, not idealized, because of his way of seeing politicity and the personal realm. My great reference these days is also a person who works as a teacher of children, who is opening me many doors sharing books and reflections.

Lately I have heard with contempt that we are experiencing a boom in maternity books. What do you think?
I am disturbed by this comment. We do not speak and write enough about motherhood, but since it has been rejected and has now been given a small fee, there is a feeling that it is taking up too much space. We are fed up with the hegemonic, idealized, medicalized and prescribed by men of motherhood, that is true, but of that almost endless ocean of plural motherhood we know nothing. And look at how many colors and temperatures there are in a sea. We must count the maternities from our bodies and our voices, also hearing those that do not correspond to our experiences.

Explain further, please.
I am not interested in the pathological, paternalistic, penalizing and pressure speeches that come from the so-called “experts” and their supposed “neutrality”. The same is true of neurodivergence. I am tired of listening to psychiatrists, psychologists and other “professionals” who hide behind the white coat and who look more at DSM-Va than people: from autism I have not really learned until I have heard first-person testimonies and claims from the autistic collective.

Photo: Dani Blanco / ARGIA CC BY-SA


You are interested in those who keep quiet...
Yes, the gaze leaves me without looking there, because I surely do not want to stay on the surface of the conventions. And once the taboos are naked, why not really undress? For example, if we talk about assisted reproduction techniques, we will not do so with the phrases and images that a dedicated company places in the propaganda of the bus canopies. Or if we talk about unsought abortion, don’t make clichés like “you’ll have another” and “for

something it would be.” How does taboo affect women's mental health?
It affects health in general, because actually, could we differentiate mental health from physics, as much as tobacco itself. How and to what extent? I do not know how I could tell myself how and to what extent it has affected me, although I know that at many levels, at great depth, all areas of life and for a long time it has affected me. It has taken me away, but it has also given me, and above all I have become the process of seeking motherhood and not finding it. It has been an inevitable process and vital learning for me. However, another thing is that this process, which you in your day comes to mind, has to take it in secret, you feel lonely, you have no references to help you understand yourself, you do not take away the weight of guilt and the viscosity of shame… The process is natural, you have to go through and write yourself, while the tobacco that picks up the process is cultural and puts a lot of suffering on the process and hinders its transit.

Does the system adequately attend maternity hospitals?
Clearly not. And it can be seen more clearly than in my words in the book M by Erika Lagoma and Estitxu Fernández, in My Stolen Birth by Nahia Alkorta, in Poor Maternities by Diana Oliver, and in the words of many others: Ibone Olza, Esther Vivas… Who

hasn’t read it yet, why do you recommend Karen?
In Karena there is a dialogue of pain. And ask questions and look for personal answers. There is also a dialogue between the social pressure of motherhood and the desire of the character, to understand to what extent the desire to be a mother is “of oneself” and is contaminated by culture. The novel narrates a life process in which I would like the reader to go crazy, showing the traveler landscapes within the protagonist. Whispering those who are silent, sometimes even repulsing.


You are interested in the channel: Euskal literatura
"Literature is a place for complexity, not for lecturing."
Uxue Alberdi has just published his seventh work for adults, the third in the story: Hetero (Susa, 2024). The book contains eight narratives, and the starting point of all of them has been a landscape, a moment or a relationship that has made him stand in the memory and think... [+]

The students of ESO present the reading competition for the promotion of literature
After its success in the schools of Slovenia, the editorial Alberdania has brought to the educational centers of Euskal Herria the Joko Ona Denontzat reading contest: The students of the ESO will read “high quality books” by groups and selecting avatar will overcome the... [+]

Leire Lakasta Mugeta
"Words are stones for Ernaux and the writing knife"
The writer Annie Ernaux (Lillebonne, Normandy, 1940) has translated into Basque a book of interviews in which she reflects on her poetics and function: Writing is a knife (Katakrak, 2024). During the interview, in addition to commenting on Ernaux's aesthetic and political... [+]

‘Wild Polytheism’: four days in the thoughts of Angela Davis and Jule Goikoetxea
Goikoetxea has published a new book with the editorial Susa: Wild polytheism. Despite describing it as a novel, it is a sweet and vivid chronicle that will cause the reader to step into Goikoetxea's thoughts. The presentation has taken place in the basement of San Jerónimo... [+]

With the help of giants and surrounded by children we present the book 'The Giant Adventure'
A great adventure. The children's book Salba dezagun kalejira has been specially presented by ARGIA, in the Gipuzkoan capital. Many children and parents gathered around the story of Gorka Bereziartua and Adur Larrea, and there was time for the party, for dancing, for... [+]

Learning to write stories: Where to start and what to follow?
Garazi Arrula (Tafalla, 1987) and Iñigo Astiz (Iruñea, 1985) have been invited by Mikel Ayerbe (Azpeitia, 1980) to the second of the tertulias on Basque literature, Idazeaz. The theme of this interview program has been the Basque story, and among other things, they have talked... [+]

Uxue Juarez. Exact words
"Poems are those waves that happen when you throw a stone into the water."
Almost 10 years ago I had as a tutor in the Bachillerato, I met with Uxue Juarez in the Toureau caset (Alkiza) of the Ur Mara museum, surrounded by beech trees and sculptures of Koldobika Jauregi. Uxue is still the authority for me, but in another sense now. She wears a big... [+]

Katixa Dolout-Zaldunbide
"You learn to enjoy literature and you have to work that learning process in the classroom."
He is a professor of literature, a researcher and a writer based in Banka. A talk on the poetry of Ipar Euskal Herria was held in Itsasu at the end of September. Among other things, we've started to chat with him to bring us to those who have been wrong.

Presentation of the book 'Abentura erraldoia' accompanied by a handrail of giants and heads, this Friday in Gros de Donostia
The comparison of giants and heads from the Donostiarra neighborhood of Gros will feature a kalejira and a dance enlivened by the presentation of books organized by ARGIA this Friday: A great adventure. The authors Gorka Bereziartua and Adur Larrea present the kalejira Salba... [+]

Day of twinning between Baenza and Tafalla
Non-Catholic liturgy in the chapel of Urdoz

Beware of that view of the South. Firstly, to demystify the blind admiration of the green land, the white houses and the red tiles, unconditional love, fetishism associated with speech and the supposed lifestyle. It leaves, as Ruper Ordorika has often heard, a tourist idea... [+]


'Gero': the future of the past

Let's talk clearly, bluntly, without having to move later to say what I had to say: this game, which consists of putting together the letters in Basque, happened to Axular. Almost as soon as the game is invented, in such a way that in most of Gero's pages the author gives the... [+]


2024-10-21 | Leire Ibar
Aiora Jaka, Jon Urzelai and Julia Otxoa are the other winners of the Euskadi Literature Awards
In the presentation that has been made at the San Telmo Museum of Donostia, the winners of the categories of Literary Translation to Euskera, Essay in Euskera and Literature in Spanish have been announced. The jury has decided not to award the Essay Award in Spanish, granted... [+]

Adur Larrea and Gorka Bereziartua
"Children more easily capture magic and surprise"
"We want a story about giants, for young and old children. ARGIA commissioned journalist Gorka Bereziartua and illustrator Adur Larrea. Result: A great adventure. Let's save the kalejira. "We've tried to open the door a little bit to try new things," he added.

Eguneraketa berriak daude