Leoné, known so far for his work in the field of essay – by an imaginary Basque Country (2008) and Euskal Herria in the travel books of the 19th century (2009) – as well as for his collaborations in various media – ARGIA, Berria, Euskadi Irratia, ZuZeu, Euskalerria...– He has also worked as a translator, as he brought to the Basque Country the novel Pantaleon eta bisitariak, by Mario Vargas Llosa, published in 2011, and the Kaiera World Poetry, by the antillist poet Saint-John Perse, which was published last year.
Therefore, the collection of stories Liztor mutatuak is a fictional debut for Leoné, but also the result of a writing worked for years. Leire López Ziluaga, of the editorial Susa, has emphasized that the style is the one that brings together all the stories of this work. “The writer has the same way of organizing speech, sewing the syntax, choosing words. I would also highlight the importance of welcoming, as the narrator is always willing to explain something more in detail. It also highlights the use of humor, that kind of humor that arises in the face of the darkness of life. And a world of reference, made up of zombies, superheroes, some movies.”
For the editor, the book has “a pop tap sometimes”, which has reminded him of a song from J’s last album. Martina: “I don’t want this, I want more, I want more,” sings Larrabetzu’s group and, as in that song, many of the mutant Liztor characters “would escape with pleasure from the reality in which they live, want more, and superheroes, etc. They give them the opportunity to imagine ‘more’.” Along with these pop references, yes, Hölderlin or T.S. The reader will find in the stories references to high culture as Eliot.
Leoné reminded the Catalan writer Sergi Pamiès and explained that he had three suppliers: memory, fiction and reality. So in many of the stories you can find real anecdotes from it, but it has transformed that material, leading to the extreme, among other things, some negative characteristics of the author, to create characters from the book. There are also protagonists who play according to the rules of fiction, such as the story that gives title to the book, which organizes its fantasy based on the schemes of romantic films.
The writer has also mentioned motives that are repeated in many stories, such as frustrations, decisions made and not made, regrets, etc. The narratives collected in the mutant wasps would be classified on the one hand with personal relations as the axis; and on the other hand, with the metalworking character. However, the writer has stated that, in the case of stories inspired by literature, they also have a lot to do with personal relationships and vice versa.
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... [+]
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... [+]