The Beauty of the Earth
and other Albanian tales from the living voice of the people
Anthology of 106 folk tales that were collected at the beginning of the 20th century, most of them in Albanian villages. Translated as faithfully as possible, they try to respect the stylistic register in which the stories were told. These stories take us back to a mythical and magical universe with notable original features also linked to a mixture of disparate national and foreign traditions, the remains of beliefs and customs of which we have lost all notion. Stories that we also believe, like Italo Calvino, to be true and that open a small window to a world that is geographically close to us and unknown.
In addition to this selection of wonderful stories, you can find in this book, 73 illustrations by Jesús Gabán, which illuminate the stories of these simple people, who call themselves "children of the eagles".
"A living testimony to the traces of ancient, specifically Albanian customs and practices" - ACE Traductores Magazine
This work has received assitance in the form
of a grant from the Spanish Ministry of
Culture and Sports.
Edited by María E. Roces
Artwork by Jesús Gabán
Collection: Ancients tales
Size: 17x24cm
Pages: 495
Binding: Cardboard
ISBN: 978.84.949242.8.6
(Price without VAT €28.37)
RRP €29.50
María E. Roces González
Born in Asturias and graduated in business studies, she lived in Albania, where she was the announcer and editor of Radio Tirana's Spanish broadcasts. She chaired the Spain-Albania Friendship Association and directed its magazine; an association for which she translated stories, movies, folk tales, poems... and organized tourist trips each summer to that country.
Upon returning to Spain, she dedicated herself to social activism in the responsibility of urban planning, housing and urban rehabilitation, she combined this work with that of a proofreader of literary style and collaborated with Ramón Sánchez Lizarralde on some literary translations.
Since 2011, she has been working as a literary translator for Albanian authors such as Ismaíl Kadaré, Fatos Kongoli, Bashkim Shehu, Rudi Erebara, Namik Dokle, etc. and from a collection of Albanian folk tales. She is also preparing an anthology of legendary Albanian epics.
Jesús Gabán
He has been illustrating books for children and young adults since 1981. Third prize 2021 for the best book published in 2020 in the category of books for children and young people awarded by the Spanish Ministry of Culture and Sport.
He won the National Prize for Children and Young Adults Illustration in 1984, 1988 and 2000. He was also selected in the White Ravens catalogue in 1987, and won the bronze medal at Art in the Leipzig Book Fair in 1989, the Diploma of Honor and Special Mentions in the Catalonia Prize in 1984, 1990, 1992 and 1997, the International Prize for Illustration of the Santa María Foundation in 1995. CCI Prize Honor List in 1998.
His book Abdul and the Atlas Lion was chosen as one of the One Hundred Best Spanish Children Books of the 20th Century at the VI Symposium on Children and Young Adult Literature organized by the Germán Sánchez Ruipérez Foundation. His books have been published in France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Denmark, Finland, Portugal, Brazil, Venezuela, the United States, and Japan.
With Libros de las Malas Compañías he has also illustrated the following titles:
