Editorial English

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Greetings from The Barcelona Review, the Web's first electronic review of international, contemporary cutting-edge fiction in English/Spanish/Catalan multilingual format. (Original texts of other languages are presented along with English and Spanish translations as available. We now also have our fourth French translation from the English and plan to have more in the future.)

Who are we and why another review? We're a small but ever-growing circle of mixed nationalities (Catalan, Spanish, French, American, English, and Scottish) who have come together over love of Barcelona, our home, and literature, our passion. Most of us working on the review are directly or indirectly involved with the publishing business or with teaching literature. We read for a living and we read a lot. The idea for the review came about from a desire to present, and in many cases introduce, our favorite authors to as large an audience as possible; especially authors well known within their own country or region, but not necessarily internationally.

Our common interest in writing lies somewhere in left field, if not at times completely out of the ball park, which isn't to say we don't have our favorite mainstream authors as well, but a perfectly crafted short story that lacks a unique vitality doesn't cut it. We like good, powerful, potent stuff that immediately commands attention, shows stylistic and imaginative distinction, and is literarily sound. That criteria includes Poppy Z. Brite along with Rupert Thomson, for example; everything from cyberpunk to ultra-postmodern. In short, we are committed to publishing the very best material available in a wide variety of styles and techniques. New or little-known writers are presented along with known names. We also have articles, essays, interviews and book reviews from our staff and a variety of contributors. All content is unique to the Net.

On the lay-out side TBR is browser friendly, with no hidden 'buttons' that have to be opened before you can proceed; the written word is the mind bender here not the plug-ins attached to the browser. In the layout, especially interviews and bios, we use 'tables' that may present some problems when you print out. The easiest solution is to print out with an 90% or 80% reduction. Saving color ink: In some browsers you have the option to switch off 'print backgrounds'. If you don't then the solution is reasonably simple: Save story as 'source' or 'htm' and open in a program like Word. Under Format there should be the option to change the background color. A little more complex: Save as source and under 'View' of the browser choose 'Source'. This will appear as a text document full of strange code. At the top under </head> you will see something like <body BACKGROUND="../pics/3back.gif" bgcolor="#C0C0C0"> The first is the background logo used on this page the second is a silver grey background. Just cut this line, including the '< >' and save as xxx.htm and open again in the browser. The simplest way is, of course, to save as 'text' but the danger here is some formatting may well get lost and the story restricted inside a constrained margin.

We encourage you to download and print out material (double page set-up saves paper), but before doing so be sure to read the conditions of use. We have worked hard to respect the authors' rights and expect our readers to do the same. If you experience problems with the Spanish text, such as punctuation, you should set your browser preferences to 'Latin' or 'European' or whatever appears appropriate for your browser. Other problems may be encountered with your word processor so we suggest using "save as Source" rather than "save as Text" and using the browser for reading.

Our most common FAQ concerns submissions: We contact many authors ourselves, but also accept short fiction submissions. Please read our full guidelines concerning submissions berfore sending any material.

If you would like to be informed of future issues please e-mail us. We will use your address only for this function. Just write 'Subscribe' or '¿Qué pasa?' for Subject and leave the message part blank. For any other comments/questions, use a different Subject title.

Our next issue is due out April 2008. In the meantime, read and enjoy. We appreciate your feedback, so keep in touch.

Warm regards,

Jill Adams, editor

All the material in The Barcelona Review is copyright and therefore owned by someone, usually the author. This means the owner of the rights and The Barcelona Review have come to some sort of an agreement. For you, the user end, this will always mean you can download material and store it digitally for private use only, even print paper copies for private use only, but that is all. No other rights are granted. You cannot edit material in any way, print it out for sale or sell digital copies. Nor can you put it on a website or charge others to visit our site.

A book doesn't need to spell out legal rules in full nor shall we, as it is quite simple and logical: using any of this material beyond the terms stated above is the same as theft, and that usually means the law, in some form, will be on your tail. Also remember that abuse of sites, like The Barcelona Review, will lead to repercussions which will only be to everybody's loss. Respect the artist. Respect the © sign.

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