Contemporary Short Stories from Central America (Book Review)

Contemporary Short Stories from Central America. Edited by Enrique Jaramillo Levi and Leland H. Chambers; translations coordinated by Leland H. Chambers. #0292740301, University of Texas Press, c1994, 292 pages.

This appears to be the only volume in print covering contemporary short stories from this region of the world. "Contemporary" is used slightly loosely, since some works are nearly 45 years old, and none have been written in the last 20 years (the stories are culled from publications dating, 1963-1988). The stories are divided up by country, not by theme or genre. Many of the stories deal with the politics of the respective country at the time of authorship - and are not unlike poetry from the same region, there is a supernatural element running through many of the tales.

For whatever reason, the contents of the volume are not made available on the publisher's website, nor are they found in their catalog, nor are they provided by online booksellers. Some of the Nicaraguan authors are not as famous outside their home country as are many of the other representatives, perhaps especially those from Panama and Costa Rica. These are the Nicaragua-related stories and authors, and they range in length from just 5 to more than 12 pages: "Gloria Lara" by Mario Cajina-Vega ; "Pregnant City" by Lizandro Chavez Alfaro ; "August" by Pablo Antonio Cuadra ; "The House" by Horacio Pena ; "On the Stench of Corpses" by Sergio Ramirez ; "In the Midst of the Downpour They Took Away My Cousin" by Mario Santos ; "Francisco" by Fernando Silva.

Unlike many other similar volumes from around the world, this is not intended to also be a language-learning tool, and the stories are not found in the original language with accompanying translation; the entire volume is in English. The stories are interesting and not easily found elsewhere. However, less than 50 of the nearly 300 pages pertains to Nicaragua - though the cultural as opposed to political stories are not that different within the region.