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Our first issue of 2009 marks a new direction for Diálogos Online Magazine. While in previous issues we have taken a particular theme (such as the Chilean exile experience or Hispanic cultural initiatives in Canada), and presented a series of articles, stories and/or poetry related to that topic, for future issues we have established a number of regular sections which will address a variety of different themes. In addition to this change in form, we will also aim to provide a more specific focus in terms of content, based on two facts we have observed about our readership. These facts are (1) that although we have readers on our notification lists from all over the world, the majority of our readers appear to live in or close to Toronto, and (2) that a large proportion of our readers are translators working in the Spanish and English language pair. In light of these observations, future issues of Diálogos will adopt a particular focus on issues and events affecting the Spanish-speaking community of Toronto, and also on issues of relevance to Spanish-English translation. Beginning with this issue, our quarterly magazine will therefore feature the following regular sections: a feature article, a book review, a classic work of Hispanic literature, a professional translator’s column and an events page.
The feature article will generally focus on an initiative of importance to the Spanish-speaking community in Toronto, or a person who has made a significant contribution to Hispanic-Canadian culture. In this issue, our feature article covers both these criteria, as it announces the introduction of Canada's first university-level creative writing course offered in the Spanish language, at the University of Toronto’s School of Continuing Studies, while also recognizing the achievements of the professor responsible for the course – Mexican-Canadian author Martha Batíz.
Our book review will feature a book written by a Hispanic-Canadian, or a work of Hispanic literature which may be of interest to Canadian readers. The book reviewed in this issue ties in well with our feature article, as it is Martha Batíz's award-winning novella Boca de Lobo, which, although not published in Canada as yet, is available for sale through the Spanish Centre in Toronto.
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Our section dedicated to a classic of Hispanic literature will present a short story, excerpt or poem by a figure of importance in the history of Hispanic literature. For this section, our goal will be to present works by writers who are not widely known outside the Spanish-speaking world, but who nevertheless played an important role in the development of literature in their homeland. In this issue, we feature a poem by 19th-century Mexican poet Manuel María Flores, recognized as one of the most important figures in the Mexican Romantic movement. The translation into English of his poem "Ausencia” was provided by Toronto-based literary translator Mina Yoon, founder of Fidelity Translations.
The purpose of our regular translator’s column, Translatology, is to provide reflections on issues related to the translation industry in general and Spanish-English translation in particular. Our columnist, Lisa Carter, is a professional Spanish-English literary translator with over 15 years' experience in the industry, and has participated actively in organizations such as the American Translators’ Association and the Literary Translators’ Association of Canada. It is hoped that her insights will be of use to translators and people with an interest in the translation industry.
Finally, our events page will list some of the upcoming events on the Hispanic Canadian cultural calendar each season. We invite readers to submit any information they have about events in coming months to be included in our summer edition, which is scheduled for publication in August. Also, if you have an article or information on a Hispanic Canadian cultural initiative that you believe would be of interest to our readers, or a review of a book of significance to Hispanic Canadian readers, please send it to martin@dialogos.ca for consideration. Any submissions for our summer edition must be received by July 15, 2009.
We would like to thank all our readers for their continued support of this initiative, and hope that you all will continue to follow the evolution of Diálogos Online Magazine.
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