Sportula Licenses Worldwide Spanish Rights to The Elephant and Macaw Banner
Award-winning Brazilian fantasy series to be launched digitally by Spanish publisher
PORTO ALEGRE, November 17, 2016 – The Elephant and Macaw Banner series is the latest acquisition of Spanish science fiction and fantasy imprint Sportula. Sportula is owned and operated by award-winning author Rodolfo Martínez. Their catalog includes authors such as Juan Miguel Aguilera, Elia Barceló, Angélica Gorodischer, Ian Whates, Arthur Conan Doyle and María Zaragoza.
The Elephant and Macaw Banner is a fantasy series set in colonial Brazil. The stories have been nominated for the Nebula and other international awards, and have been adapted to graphic novel and board game formats. Sportula plans to launch digital Spanish editions of the individual novelettes, available worldwide, followed by a possible print edition in Spain.
Martínez writes: “Kastensmidt´s stories are a breath of fresh air in the current landscape of epic fantasy, where everybody seems to be obsessed with revisiting over and over the European Middle Ages (or versions of it) as if there were no other possibilities. Instead, he has dared to look upon other traditions and mythos, and has created a very smart and compelling fusion of historical novels and African and American traditions and legends. He is exploring uncharted territory and discovering new worlds. For me, as head of Sportula, it’s a privilege to be the Spanish publisher of his work.”
Christopher Kastensmidt, author of the series, says: “Rodolfo is one of the most important Spanish SF authors and Sportula is one of the most beloved publishing houses among Spanish fans. This is a perfect fit for The Elephant and Macaw Banner, and I’m honored to be working with them.”
The Spanish edition will mark the seventh language to which the series has been translated. The stories are currently available for purchase in Chinese via 100-million-user social network Douban Read, in Portuguese via Brazilian publisher Devir Livraria, and in English via the author’s own digital editions. Individual stories have been published in magazines in Czech, Romanian, and Dutch.
About Sportula
Sportula was born in 2009 as a means of managing the electronic rights to Rodolfo Martínez’s work. The idea of publishing other Spanish authors was always on the table, and it became a reality in 2012 with Akasa-Puspa de Aguilera y Redal, an anthology where several authors wrote new stories set in the space opera genre, organized by Juan Miguel Aguilera and Javier Redal. Over the years, Sportula has published more than a hundred titles (both in paperback and ebook) from more than forty authors, most of them Spanish, but also Latin-American and British. The house´s focus has always been electronic publication, and over years it has achieved several awards, being a favorite in the Ignotus Award (the Spanish equivalent of the Hugo Awards). In Sportula´s catalogue, readers can find science fiction, fantasy, historic novels, detective stories, essays and even poetry.
About the Elephant and Macaw Banner
The Elephant and Macaw Banner is an award-winning fantasy series set in sixteenth-century Brazil. The stories tell the adventures of Gerard van Oost and Oludara, an unlikely pair of heroes who meet in Salvador. News, artwork, and in-depth explanations of historical and cultural references from the series can be found at the website www.eamb.org.
About Christopher Kastensmidt
Christopher is a native Texan who immigrated to Porto Alegre, Brazil, in 2001. A former Creative Director at Ubisoft, he has authored games, comics, and books published around the world, totaling millions of units sold.
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