Take An “Odd Dose” of María Ospina’s Newly-Translated Short Story
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María Ospina is an Associate Professor in the Romance Languages and Literatures Department where she teaches contemporary Latin American culture and creative writing. Her first book of fiction, the short story collection Azares del cuerpo has been published in Colombia, Chile, Spain, Italy and is now available in English as Variations on the Body (Coffee House Press, 2021). Her stories have appeared in anthologies and literary magazines in Colombia and the US. She has written extensively about memory, violence and nature in contemporary Colombian culture, including the monograph El rompecabezas de la memoria: Literatura, cine y testimonio de comienzos de siglo en Colombia. Her forthcoming novel will be published in spring 2023 with Random House Mondadori.
Ospina’s short story “Odd Dose,” was recently translated and published in the first issue of the new NY-based literary Journal 128Lit, which is devoted to publishing literary pieces and art from all over the world. “Odd Dose” poetically moves between vignettes that follow an unnamed narrator in Ospina’s birthplace, Bogotá, Colombia. The narrator navigates a changing relationship with her close friend Verónica, who’s own relationship with medicine becomes quite fraught with time.
Originally published in Spanish in a 2019 Colombian anthology, the translation of “Odd Dose” was funded by Wesleyan’s Thomas and Catherine McMahon Fund of the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures. Providing the perfect opportunity for publication of Ospina’s Wesleyan-backed translation, the editor of 128Lit has undertaken a shared dedication to finding, translating and circulating literature that is not originally in English/Anglophone language.
It is in substantial part due to this shared undertaking of uplifting narratives that aren’t privileged in U.S. literary spaces that 128Lit has invited Professor Ospina to return to the magazine as an editor of the 2nd edition, to which Ospina plans on introducing even more Latin American voices. Be sure to check out “Odd Dose” at the link below!
