The Shapes of Air

The Book

This is a very experimental group of brief stories and fragments based on the theories of quantum physics, with a hint of horror and another part of autobiography. The original book was published in Spanish by Cuatro Ojos Textos in Colombia during the year 2020. This English version was made thanks to a beautiful proyect developed at CalState, Fullerton as follows.

The Project

Practice in Translation I (SPAN 471) is an advanced course in the Certificate in Translation: Spanish to English / English to Spanish program at California State University, Fullerton. During the Fall 2021 semester, students in Dr. Raelynne M. Hale's course translated the entire collection of short stories The Shape of Air: Quantum Fiction. Through many weeks of meetings, edits, and drafts with author, Gabriela A. Arciniegas, and their professor, Dr. Raelynne M. Hale, the students created a beautifully translated rendition of Arciniegas' Las formas del aire: ficcin cuntica.

The Author

Gabriela A. Arciniegas (Bogot, Colombia, 1975) is a novelist, poet, short-story writer, translator, and illustrator. Graduated in Literature, specialized in University Teaching, Master in Latin American Literature. She was a Professor of Literature in Bogota. Active member of the PEN Club Colombia. Creator of the genre Mystical Gore. Translated to Italian, English and Chinese. Read in Colombian Schools and International Universities. Named as a female pioneer of the Horror genre in Colombia by the newspaper El Espectador. Published in Peru and Colombia. Currently living in Chile since 2016. Some of her most recent books: "Bestias," 2015, "Legiones de luz," 2020, "Amos del fuego," 2021.

The coordinator

Dr. Raelynne M. Hale (Kansas City, Missouri, 1989), Dr. Hale, or Profe Hale as their students call them, is a faculty member in the Modern Languages and Literatures Department at California State University, Fullerton. Since 2018, they have taught Spanish-English and English-Spanish Translation, Peninsular and Latin American Literature and Culture, Writing, and Spanish Language courses. They have received the Outstanding Lecturer Award (2021), Distinguished teaching Award (2018), and the Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award (2018) for their innovative teaching, dedication to students, and collaborative projects. They are currently the Chair of the Curriculum Committee for their department and their recent publication, titled "Twitter y la minificcin: un espacio de contacto entre los autores y sus lectores y la creacin de microrrelatos interactivos" (2019) was published in Microtextualidades: Revista internacional de microrrelato y minificcin.