Includes brand-new stories by: Jordi Sierra i Fabra, Imma Monso, Santiago Roncagliolo, Francisco “Paco” Gonzalez Ledesma, Valerie Miles, David Barba, Isabel Franc, Lolita Bosch, Eric C. Aragon, Antonia Cortijos, Cristina Fallaras, Raul Argemi, Teresa Solana, and Andreu Martin.
For some, Barcelona is a European enchantress of nouveau architecture, fusion tapas, and fine cava. To others, it’s a Gothic labyrinth of tiny streets to lose oneself in; hashish-clouded after-hours bars to forget the time; dimly lit plazas with global bohemians squatting, prostitutes tempting. But come morning, its cold cobblestones and misty beachfronts have even darker stories to tell.
Adriana V. López: Adriana V. López is the founding editor of Críticas Magazine and edited the story collection Fifteen Candles. López’s journalism has appeared in the New York Times and the Washington Post and her essays and fiction have been published in anthologies such as Border-Line Personalities, Colonize This! and Juicy Mangoes. Currently, she is translating Susana Forte’s novel Waiting for Robert Capa and divides her time between New York and Madrid.
Carmen Ospina: Carmen Ospina directs the digital program at Random House Mondadori in Barcelona, Spain. Born and raised in Colombia, she lived in New York for eight years where she coedited Críticas magazine and worked as an editor at Umbrage Editions and a freelance journalist for World Press Review and NY1 Noticias. She has lived in Barcelona since 2006 and rides her bike every day.
For the uninitiated, the quinceañera celebrates the passage of a fifteen-year-old girl into adulthood: It’s a bit bat mitzvah with a dash of debutante ball, and loaded with the same potential for hilarity and adolescent angst. In this original anthology, fifteen of the brightest and funniest Latino writers, men and women alike, share their own memories of these moving and often absurd extravaganzas—tales of that unique form of familial humiliation that is borne of the best intentions, fierce love, and the infectious joy of parents finally allowing their little girl to grow up.