Harkaitz Cano (Lasarte-Oria, 1975) has published novels, comics, literary non-fiction, short stories and poetry, and he has translated the works of Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton, Hanif Kureishi, Raymond Carver and Allen Ginsberg into Basque. 

A keen explorer of the contours of Basque as a literary language, and of world literature in general, Cano’s writing is shaped by his steady and committed engagement in other forms of art in contemporary Basque culture, such as theatre, music, cinema, dance, or even culinary research. With acute critical insight and literary finesse, his writing delves into current global issues, the convoluted recent history of the Basque Country and the literary and social evolution of an ancient language in the world today. 

Translated into a dozen languages, his works include the novels Fakirraren ahotsa (2018), Twist (2011) and Belarraren ahoa (2004); the short story collection Beti oporretan (2015); a literary portrait of Luis Buñuel entitled Kandelikara (2021), and the poetry collections Ulu egiteko bolondres bila (2023) and Pozaren erdia (2022). 

He has received the Euskadi Prize for Literature on three occasions, the Spanish National Critics’ Award on four occasions, and several other distinctions, including the 111 Akademia Recognition, awarded by the readers. His texts have appeared in The New Yorker and The Indian Quarterly, and he has taught at the Elías Querejeta Film School (Donostia-San Sebastián) and at the University of Chicago.