Dear Alejandro,
Your interest in my work touches me. I am delighted ot hear that my good friends David Matlin and Doug Rice introduced you to my work. Which of Doug's novels did you translate? It would certainly be a pleasure for me to come to Mexicali and participate in the Book fair. Though these days I do not travel well.
The past few months I've been fighting a cancer of the left kidney which has metastasized into the bones of my chest. I went through radiation, and an operation, and I am now somewhat back in shape. I mention this because I don't know when the book fair will take place or what kind of invitation woud it be. More important, is your interest in translating my work into Spanish. For a long time I have deplored the fact that none of my novels have been translated into Spanish. Some poems and short fiction have appeared in Spanish magazines in Spain, but never one of the novels.
A young writer in Valencia has started a translation of Smiles on Washington Square, but sadly he died of a cancer before being able to finishe the translation. In any case, it's surprising to me that no Spanish publisher got interested in my work, especially since most of my novels have been translated into a dozen languages, even including Chinese.I know translating is an ungrateful task, but if you are seriously interested I would give you permission to translate whichever novel[s] you would like to do. Do you have an idea about that? And also do you see the possibility of finding a publisher for your translations. If so, then let's us discuss this matter seriously.Again, thank you for writing me. I hope we can go on talking about all that.
With best wishes
Raymond
