As huge fans of Kirmen Uribe’s literature, the entire Pontas team is thrilled to announce that the most important contemporary author in Euskera (Basque language) has joined the agency. Marina Penalva and Marc de Gouvenain met Kirmen Uribe at the Göteborg Book Fair in September 2015; he then travelled to Barcelona to meet all of us and discuss some details. Finally, the signature of the representation agreement took place on Sunday November 8th in Ondarroa, the fishermen town in the Basque coast where he was born and currently lives, and where Anna Soler-Pont had strong connections since her teens and many common friends with Kirmen (one of them being the witness of the signature together with Nerea, Kirmen’s wife).
Kirmen Uribe is a Basque writer born into a fishing family in Ondarroa (Basque Country) in 1970. He studied Basque Philology at the University of the Basque Country–Gasteiz, and did his graduate studies in Comparative Literature in Trento, Italy. In October 2009 he was awarded the most prestigious prize in Spain, the National Prize of Literature, for his debut novel Bilbao–New York–Bilbao; which also received the 2008 Critics’ Prize for a novel written in Basque. His second novel, Mussche (What Makes The World Go Around), was also published to great acclaim. Kirmen Uribe also writes children's books and poetry.
Bilbao-New York-Bilbao earned Kirmen Uribe, at 39, the biggest and most prestigious literary distinction for a Spanish author, the National Prize of Literature, confirming him as one of the most interesting and original novelists in Basque and in Spain. Bilbao-New York-Bilbao was celebrated as a major literary event, sold over 100.000 copies and has been translated into over a dozen languages.
«Uribe's literature deepens its roots in the Basque Country, but it's completely universal.» The Harvard Book Review
«His works enlighten the path for memory.» Los Angeles Times Book Review
«This book is as beautiful as a memory.» Le Figaro
Kirmen Uribe is the first author writing in Basque to ever join Pontas, and we couldn't be more excited: we all loved his two first novels and we cannot wait to start reading his new novel, which he's currently writing. To learn more about Kirmen Uribe and his work, check out his website: www.kirmenuribe.eus