"This analysis of the writings of Bernardo Atxaga is inspired by his image of the Basque language as a hedgehog that has "survived ... by withdrawing," but that has now emerged - preeminently in the work of this most international of Basque authors." "Following the trail of the hedgehog reveals the riches of contemporary Basque literature and Atxaga's central position in the Basque literary world. The book explores the enthusiastic global reception of Atxaga's fiction - in particular Obabakoak, which has been translated into twenty-six languages - but also his short stories, drama, poetry, and writings for children and young people. It focuses on the preeminence of the fantastic in Atxaga's work, the experimental style of his hybrid poetic texts, and the "heterotopias" of his realist novels."--Jacket.