José J. Ramos writes about...
Galactic empires and a double translation
Dear Donald Webb:
I am contacting you to ask for a favor. We would be very pleased if you published in your Newsletter the following message:
Alfa Eridiani is pleased to announce that the next number 17 of its web magazine will be dedicated to the Galactic Empires. The theme of the galactic empires in science fiction — this naive and visionary genre — is of primal importance inside the flowing of Space Opera in the same way as fabulous reigns are the root in heroic chronicles of all times. Huge empires contain hundreds of worlds and measure its dominions by parsecs. Empires competing in splendor with the stars whose downfall makes worlds tremble...
Alfa Eridiani wishes to gather again stories of this old tradition and appeals to all science fiction writers to offer their stories with this environment in Spanish, up to 3000 words, to be published in June 2005.
The stories must be in the Spanish language and sent to Alfa Eridiani. Stories may be submitted only until May 31, 2005. All stories arriving later will be excluded.
With our best regards,
the Editors
P.S. I also wish to know if you had any success finding a translator for Oxigen och Aromasia by Claës Lundin. I suppose not. That is why I would like you to repeat the proposal in your Newsletter. The idea would be to translate the novel into English and then into Spanish.
Sincerely yours,
José J. Ramos
Copyright © 2005 by José J. Ramos
Thank you for the announcement and query, Sr Ramos. We wish Alfa Eridiani the best of good fortune with the thematic issue.
The choice of galactic empires as a theme is enticing; the thought hearkens back to the “good old days” of science fiction and brings back fond memories of Isaac Asimov. Bewildering Stories has very few such stories, and in them the “empires,” such as they are, tend to hover in the background as a kind of grey eminence. One might mention some of Michael J A Tyzuk’s novellas, euhal allen’s Bridge or, after a fashion, Jörn Grote’s “The Sum of Our Lives,” in issue 124. Please forgive me if I’ve overlooked any.
If any of our readers or contributors would like to send a story to Alfa Eridiani, we encourage them to do so. However, I strongly recommend against running a text through Babelfish and then sending it. If Babelfish’s English translations are any indication, I’m not sure whether Sr Ramos would be amused or appalled. I can recommend a lady from Venezuela who might accept work as a translator. Disclaimer: she’s a daughter-in-law.
Speaking of translations, I have no idea who might translate the Swedish novel into English and thence into Spanish, let alone directly into Spanish. Two of our contributors are Swedish and are fluent in English: Cecilia Wennerström and A. R. Yngve. If any of our readers can help, please contact Sr Ramos directly.
¡ Buena suerte, Señor Ramos !
Don Webb
Copyright © 2005 by Don Webb for Bewildering Stories
