Join us on Wednesday 2nd December at 7pm on Zoom where we will be talking to the translators of Gabriela Cabezon Camara's 'The Adventures of China Iron', Fiona Mackintosh and Iona Macintyre. We will be asking Fiona and Iona all about their careers as translators, how they got into the industry, their work in translating "The Adventures of China Iron' and much more. If you have any questions you would like to ask Fiona and Iona please email them to antonia@books-on-the-hill.co.uk prior to the event as there will be a small amount of time saved for some extra questions.
'The Adventures of China Iron' is a "riotous romp taking the reader from the turbulent frontier culture of the pampas deep into indigenous territories. It charts the adventures of Mrs China Iron, Martín Fierro’s abandoned wife, in her travels across the pampas in a covered wagon with her new-found friend, soon to become lover, a Scottish woman named Liz. While Liz provides China with a sentimental education and schools her in the nefarious ways of the British Empire, their eyes are opened to the wonders of Argentina’s richly diverse flora and fauna, cultures and languages, as well as to its national struggles. After a clash with Colonel Hernández (the author who ‘stole’ Martín Fierro’s poems) and a drunken orgy with gauchos, they eventually find refuge and a peaceful future in a utopian indigenous community, the river- dwelling Iñchiñ people.
Seen from an ox-drawn wagon, the narrative moves through the Argentinian landscape, charting the flora and fauna of the Pampas, Gaucho culture, Argentinian nation-building and British colonial projects.
In a unique reformulation of history and literary tradition, Gabriela Cabezón Cámara, with humour and sophistication, re-writes Martín Fierro from a feminist, LGBT, postcolonial point of view. She creates a hilarious novel that is nevertheless incisive in its criticism of the way societies come into being, and the way they venerate mythical heroes. " - The Adventures of China Iron was shortlisted for the International Booker Prize 2020.