We begin the broadcast by turning our attention to Bernardo Atxaga, who won Spain's National Narrative Award in 1989 for his book Obabakoak and the National Critics Award in Euskera, or the Basque language, for his most recent work, "Nevada Days." He appeared at Madrid's Cervantes Institute ( www.cervantes.es ) on Monday, May 5th as part of the Institute's "Encounters with Authors" series. Bernardo Atxaga was born in 1951 in the town of Asteasu in the Basque Country. He earned a degree in economics and is recognized as one of the most original contemporary writers in Spain, as well as the most translated and awarded writer in the Basque language. Joseba Irazu Garmendia began to write when he was 17 and in the early 1980's he assumed the pseudonym by which he is now known, Bernardo Atxaga. Then, in "Listeners Club," we turn our attention the cards, letters and e-mails we receive from all around the world. And we end on a "worldly note," with American jazz singer Stacey Kent offering us her version of "What a Wonderful World."
