Blog del Instituto Cervantes de Dublín

Elia Barceló: Literature is larger than life

Interview with Elia Barceló, held on the 13th of March 2012 in the Dámaso Alonso library, Instituto Cervantes Dublin, on the occasion of her participation in the round table discussion “Poetry and fantastic literature: From Cortázar to Beckett, including Borges along the way”, with Harry Clifton and Bernardo Toro, in the Isla Festival 2012.

Elia Barceló (Alicante, Spain, 1957) has published crime, historical, science fiction and fantastic novels for adults, as well as young adult books and essays. In 2007, she received the Gabriel Award, a prize for the most important personalities in the fantastic genre in Spain. Her work has been translated into French, Italian, German, Catalan, English, Greek, Hungarian, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Croatian, Portuguese, Basque, Czech, Russian and Esperanto. Her novels translated into English are Corazón de tango (2007) (Heart of Tango, 2010) and El secreto del orfebre (2003) (The Goldsmith’s Secret, 2011). In 2013, she published the first two volumes of her trilogy Anima Mundi.

Carmen Sanjulián: —Elia, the literati say that you are a master of words. You wrote El almacén de las palabras terribles (The Storehouse of Terrible Words) but I think that you left the terrible words in that store and you remained with the beautiful ones.

Elia Barceló: —That’s one of my ideas. Probably because I live abroad, language, my language, is a fundamental thing for me. Words, in my view, are a real treasure. It is not speaking for the sake of speaking, it is something that I appreciate and try to recreate.

Carmen Sanjulián: —In your novels you always endeavor to dismantle stereotypes, those dealing with sex, with identity for example…you would be a good politician. 

Elia Barceló: —Never, never. Perhaps I could be a good friend to politicians for example, to be able to tell them of the atrocities that they are committing. But I would not be able be one myself. I am in favour of small groups that operate autonomously. If I thought that anarchism actually worked in reality, I would absolutely be an anarchist.

Carmen Sanjulián: —Science fiction, which is becoming increasingly popular, is still considered as a poor relation of literature. What is this due to? 

Elia Barceló: —There are many reasons. I suppose that a lot of people speak badly of science fiction without having ever read it. They have perhaps seen a couple of movies on TV, and with a bit of bad luck, they have seen the worst that science fiction has to offer. They see it as a mindless caprice.

I wrote 19 books and only three of them are science fiction, but I think that science fiction is one of the few genres that offers fresh themes. All other genres deal with the same concepts that literature broached two thousand years ago. Science fiction is the only one that breaks new ground. And surely, for many readers, this is something that scares them. Because it does require more work. When you approach a science fiction novel, it doesn’t offer its meaning immediately. You have to put in much work yourself.

Carmen Sanjulián: —Is there a symbiosis between the world of science and that of science fiction writers? 

Elia Barceló: —Yes. When I was young I was always struck by things we read that were then seen as fiction, issues such as the cloning of children for example; these type of problems are now very real. At the time, it was felt that these ideas were whims, nonsense that was invented by certain madmen. And so, I think it’s important that we as writers propose certain themes, ideas, that are yet to come. Literature makes us see the world in another way, with different eyes. And this why science fiction is a great challenge. There are of course many others that are equally so.

Carmen Sanjulián: —What then, if not science fiction, are the stories that we have left? 

Elia Barceló: —We, as human beings, are storytellers, this is fundamental. All human need to narrate. Each of us narrates our own story to ourselves. There are of course moments in which we know we are lying to ourselves, because we feel shame, because things seem less palatable. And other times, when you’ve already said something untrue four or five times, you’re not aware that are lying. You believe completely that it was as you said it. This is why I wrote the novel Disfraces terribles (Terrible Disguises), which deals precisely with this fact, someone who tries to write a biography of a great Argentine author and has the idea that by asking people who knew him, and reading his texts, the author could be recreated. But he comes to realise that memory itself is a creation.

Carmen Sanjulián: —If the inhabitants of Umbria could see the world that we live in today, not only in Europe, but particularly in Spain, what would they say? How would they react? 

Elia Barceló: —The poor inhabitants of Umbria are accustomed to everything because Umbria is a Spanish autonomous region created by four writers ten years ago in which anything is possible. The beauty of Umbria is that everything is normal. There are normal roads and airports and restaurants, but all its inhabitants know that strange things happen there which are never spoken about. Everything is known, but nothing is talked about. The people of Umbria would look at our world and say that things are just the way they are.

Carmen Sanjulián: —So far all your novels have been based in Umbria. Are you writing anything else situated in this fictional environment? 

Elia Barceló: —Not at this time, no. There were four of us originally and the only one who continued to write about it, besides myself, was César Mallorquí. The others left it, and this is why I am not sure whether it is really worth continuing to propagate this world. Now, the novel I’m writing takes place on this planet, but all over the place. It has something like twenty-five locations.

Carmen Sanjulián: —As science fiction is a genre that is not well known, some have used it at times to steal ideas. Has this ever happened with any of your books? 

Elia Barceló: —In my opinion it is a type of coincidence. I have never thought that others steal ideas from me. I believe that literature is ultimately a kind of pirate treasure chest, and when you open the lid there are so many beautiful things which you feel belong to no-one in particular, that they are for everybody. And you start to put on necklaces, earrings, such things, without thinking that perhaps they could belong to another person. I do not believe that some rob from others, it is not necessary.

Carmen Sanjulián: —You like to visit, to physically experience the places where your novels are situated. Once you even pursued someone to see what it feels like! 

Elia Barceló: —Yes… Usually everything goes fine, nothing strange happens. But at the initial moment, when someone asks you “Why are you staring at me?”, you tell them, “Look, I find you very interesting, because I’m writing a novel, and I have a character like you”. People then usually become very friendly and amiable.

Carmen Sanjulián: —One of your most recent experiences has been with tango. You put Corazón de Tango (Heart of Tango) in this fascinating world of the 1920s. After your visit to Buenos Aires, did it exert in you the same fascination? 

Elia Barceló: —One of the joys of literature in general is that it is larger than life. When a story is described in a literary sense, it touches you more, you appreciate more. One sees images that are much more powerful than when you were physically there. In fact I started to write Heart of Tango more or less precisely when I stopped dancing. The tango is a dance in which the man leads, decides, does it all. And my husband said once “Look darling, I have already started to tire of this tango”. This was surely because he understood the lyrics of the songs – he said “It is unbearable spend four or five hours listening to how someone complains because they have abandoned him.” As we stopped dancing, I started to write.

Carmen Sanjulián: —What is very clear is that you are a tremendously curious woman who enjoys experimenting and rummaging through many different fields. 

Elia Barceló: —Yes. Something that is very typical of me is that each novel I do is always something new. Both my publishers and my agent tell me “Listen, perhaps you could take an approach where your readers might know what to expect from you”. I have written criminal fiction, fantasy novels, gothic horror novels, realistic works, everything. What I’m doing now does not yet have a specific label. It is a kind of thriller. It is a trilogy, and it is enormous – there will be one thousand three hundred pages or so. It is a contemporary thriller, taking place in this world, in which there are a few fantastic elements that become increasingly stronger and more potent, with a surprising, unexpected finale. Well, I hope so! I hope that you read it and you enjoy it, is calledAnima Mundi.

Recommended links

• [Video] Interview with Elia Barceló at the Instituto Cervantes in Dublin, by Carmen Sanjulián.
• Elia Barceló on Conocer al autor.com.
• Entrevista a Elia Barceló in ABC.es about her last book, Anima mundi.

< List of interviews

Esta tarde, te invitamos al recital literario organizado por el Instituto Cervantes en colaboración con Poetry Ireland. “A dos voces”  contará con la participación del poeta granadino  Antonio Praena y la poeta neerlandesa Judith Mok.

Antonio Praena se licenció en teología y desde el año 2000 es profesor agregado de la Facultad de Teología de Valencia. Obtuvo el Accésit del premio Adonáis de poesía en 2006 por su libro Poemas para mi hermana. Ha obtenido otros premios como el Accésit del Premio de Poesía Iberoamericana Víctor Jara por su poemario Humo verde (Salamanca, 2003) y el Premio Nacional de Poesía José Hierro (2011) de San Sebastián de los Reyes con la obra  Actos de Amor.

Judith Mok nació en los Países Bajos pero ha vivido la mayor parte de su vida fuera de su tierra natal, los 15 últimos años en Irlanda. Ha publicado tres novelas y cuatro libros de poemas, así como relatos cortos. Ha escrito además para radio y prensa. Sus relatos han sido preseleccionados dos veces para el Premio Francis McManus y su primera novela, The innocents at the Circus, para el Prix de l’Academie Française. Sus escritos han aparecido publicados en revistas literarias y antologías de ámbito nacional e internacional. Además de su faceta de escritora, Judith Mok ha recorrido escenarios de medio mundo como soprano lírica de talla internacional.

Os esperamos en el Café Literario.

This evening we have organized  a literary reading  together with Poetry Ireland. The literary recital is “In two voices”, composed by Antonio Praena, from Granada, and Judith Mok, from Netherlands.

Antonio Praena graduated in Theology and became a prior of the convent of Santa Cruz la Real in Granada. Since 2000 he also works as an assistant professor in the Faculty of Theology of Valencia. His collections of poem Poemas para mi hermana was awarded in 2006 the Premio Adonais de Poesía. Further awards he received were the Premio de Poesía Iberoamericana Víctor Jara for his poem bookHumo verde (Salamanca, 2003) and the National Poetry Prize José Hierro (2011) of San Sebastian de los Reyes with the play Actos de amor.

Judith Mok was born in the Netherlands and lived abroad for most of her life. Ireland has been her home for the last 15 years. She has published three novels and four books of poetry as well as short stories. She has written for Radio and Newspapers. Her short stories have been short listed twice for the Francis Mc Manus Award and her first novel, The innocents at the Circus, for the Prix de l’Academie Francaise. Her work has appeared nationally and internationally in literary magazines and Anthologies. Furthermore, Judith Mok travels the world working as an internationally acclaimed lyric soprano.

We hope to see you in the Café Literario.

En nuestros “Encuentros en la biblioteca“, viajamos de nuevo hasta México y nos detenemos a disfrutar de su cultura gastronómica de la mano de Claudio Hall Van Beuren.

Claudio nos habla de la historia de la famosa fonda El Refugio, el primer restaurante de comida tradicional mexicana en México, un lugar vanguardista con recetas tradicionales. Tenemos que remontarnos a los años 50, más exactamente a 1954 para encontrar el origen de El Refugio. Una bonita historia de la que fueron protagonistas los abuelos de Claudio Hall Van Beuren. Sus descendientes, después, generación tras generación, han ido cuidando meticulosamente su herencia para transformar El Refugio en lo que ahora es, uno de los más destacados lugares de la gastronomía mexicana.

Bien conocida es de todos la gastronomía del país azteca. Sin embargo, Claudio nos señala que existen muchos estereotipos respecto a ella. “La comida va más allá de los burritos. Al ser un territorio muy amplio, existen diversas recetas” pero algunos de los ingredientes son comunes: la manteca para cocinar, el jitomate y el chile son los que destacan.

El secreto al que Hall Van Beuren apunta para el éxito de El Refugio es el de usar las técnicas tradicionales e ingredientes frescos. Pero la comida tiene que ir acompañada siempre del amor y la atención al detalle. Todo en su conjunto hace que podamos degustar allí, por ejemplo, las mejores albóndigas en salsa de chile chipotle.

Una buena oportunidad más de profundizar en la colorida cultura de este país, con unas tradiciones siempre sorprendentes. Una magnífica ocasión para conocer un lugar idóneo para disfrutar de la buena mesa.

A new edition of our Meetings at the Library drives us to Mexico where we will stop to to enjoy the gastronomic culture with the guidance of Claudio Hall Van Beuren.

Claudio tells the story of the famous inn El Refugio, the first traditional Mexican food restaurant in Mexico. We have to go back to the 50s, more precisely to 1954 to find the origin of El Refugio. A nice story starred by Claudio’s grandparents . Their descendants, generation after generation, have been carefully watching their heritage to transform El Refugio in what is now: one of the most prominent places of Mexican cuisine.

Is well known of all the food of the Aztec country. However, Claudio tells us that there are many stereotypes about it. “The food goes beyond burritos. As a very large territory, there are a wide variety of recipes but some of the ingredients are common: cooking butter, jitomate, chile…”

The secret to which Van Beuren Hall points to the success of El Refugio is using traditional techniques and fresh ingredients. But the food must always be accompanied by love and attention to detail. All together we can taste it there, for example, the best meatballs in chipotle chile sauce.

A good opportunity to delve into the colorful culture of this country, into his traditions. A great opportunity to learn a great place to enjoy good food.

Foto: Manu Diana

Pocos países pueden alardear de ser tierra de poetas como Chile.

Gabriela Mistral y Pablo Neruda, ganadores de sendos premios Nobel de Literatura, ambos poetas; Gonzalo Rojas y Nicanor Parra,  galardonados con el Premio Cervantes, son también poetas.

Pero Chile no solo es conocido por sus poetas. Para completar el repóquer de ases ahí está Jorge Edwards, novelista y también Premio Cervantes. Porque Chile también es conocido por ser la tierra de genios de la narrativa, como Isabel Allende o el magnífico Roberto Bolaño.

Otros autores como Luis Sepúlveda, autor de “Un viejo que leía novelas de amor”, Marcela Serrano, con obras como “El albergue de las mujeres tristes” o “Antigua vida mía” y Antonio Skármeta, con una prolífica carrera en la que destaca “Ardiente paciencia”, retrato libre de Pablo Neruda que inspiró la película “El cartero de Neruda” gozan desde hace años del favor del público.

La pasada semana, el Instituto Cervantes de Dublín, en cooperación con la Embajada de Chile en Irlanda, organizó la 2º Semana de Cine Chileno. En este evento se proyectaron varias películas, entre ellas “Promedio Rojo” del director Nicolás López y “El Chacotero Sentimental” de Cristián Galaz. Por todo ello, Chile es durante este mes de marzo el tema destacado en nuestra biblioteca, donde podéis encontrar numerosas obras de artistas chilenos.

Los amantes de la poesía pueden disfrutar de  una antología poética de Gabriela Mistral, de los “Cien sonetos de amor” de Pablo Neruda o de la “antipoesía” de Nicanor Parra.

Si lo que os gusta es la narrativa, podéis encontrar en nuestro catálogo  “Eva Luna” , “Hija de la fortuna” o “Paula” de la conocida escritora Isabel Allende; “Obsceno pájaro de la noche “  de  José Donoso, o “La casa de Dostoesvsky”, entre muchos otros títulos de Jorge Edwards.

Y para los cinéfilos,  “Taxi para 3” de Orlando Lübbert; “Los naúfragos”  y “La última Luna” de Miguel Littin; o bien “El chacotero sentimental” del ya mencionado Cristián Galaz. ¿A qué esperas?

There are not many countries that can show off  about being a land of poets as it happens with Chile. Gabriela Mistral and Pablo Neruda, winners of the Nobel Literary Prize, both poets; or Gonzalo Rojas and Nicanor Parra, winners of the Cervantes Prize and also poets.

But Chile is not only known for its poets, but also because it´s the land of geniuses of narrative literature, like Isabel Allende or Roberto Bolaño. We can also mention other popular writers as for example, Luis Sepúlveda, author of novels such as “The Old Man who Read Love Stories”, Marcela Serrano, “Antigua and My Life Before”, Antonio Skarmeta, prolific author whose novel “Ardent Patience” it is a Pablo Neruda´s free portrait that inspired the movie “The Postman” or Jorge Edwards who combines successfully his career as a writer and as a journalist, he won the Cervantes Prize in 1999.

Last week Instituto Cervantes Dublin organized, in cooperation with the Embassy of Chile inDublin, the Second Week of Chilean Cinema. There were shown several movies like “Promedio rojo” by Nicolás López or “El chacotero sentimental” by Cristián Galaz.

You can find in the library numerous works by Chilean artists, these are some of the titles that are in our shelves:

For poetry lovers you can enjoy an anthology by Gabriela Mistral, you can read “Cien sonetos de amor” by Pablo Neruda or enjoy the “antipoetry” book by Nicanor Parra “Poetry and Anti-Poetry”.

If you want to enjoy narrative, you can find “Eva Luna”, “Hija de la Fortuna” or “Paula”, all by Isabel Allende, “Obsceno pájaro de la noche” by José Donoso or also “El anfitrión” by Jorge Edwards.

The movie-lovers will find “Taxi para 3”by Orlando Lübbert; “Los náufragos” and “La última luna” by Miguel Littin; or “El chacotero sentimental” by Cristián Galaz.

Las novedades de la biblioteca pueden ser consultadas en nuestro catálogo en línea, como es habitual.

Para ello, seleccione ÚLTIMAS ADQUISICIONES , y elija el período de tiempo que le interesa, por ejemplo “los últimos 15 días” ,”el último mes”, o “los últimos tres meses”.

Ésta es nuestra selección para el mes de marzo  de 2012.

The lastest additions to the library catalogue can be consulted on line as usual.  

Click ÚLTIMAS ADQUISICIONES , then select “Dublin”, and choose the time period, for example, “the   past 15 days” , “the past month”, or “the 3 past months”.

This is our selection for March 2012.

Hace años, la tradición oral era la forma en la que los mitos y las leyendas pasaban de generación en generación. Los mitos suelen ser historias relacionadas con dioses y héroes, y las leyendas son historias que hablan de elementos sobrenaturales pero localizados en un tiempo y en un lugar que resultan familiares para los miembros de una comunidad, lo que hace que todos podamos situarlas e identificarlas. En su transmisión boca a boca (o boca a oreja) a través del tiempo, las leyendas han experimentado a menudo modificaciones y transformaciones, creando así diferentes versiones.

 Poco queda hoy de esa tradición oral, pero, ¿sabes que son los audiolibros? pues sí, sería la forma más parecida de usar de nuevo esa tradición oral. Tú eliges el libro que quieres oír dentro de la gran selección que te ofrecemos en la biblioteca y…listo!. Pero, aprovechando que estamos hablando de leyendas…¿te animas con 25 leyendas que se contaban en diferentes puntos de España?. Leyendas de Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer es una de las obras más importantes del Romanticismo español. Con este audiolibro tienes la oportunidad de escuchar distintos relatos que se transmitieron oralmente en España desde la Edad Media hasta el siglo XIX, siglo en el que Bécquer las recopiló en su obra.

 Así que ya sabes, si no tienes mucho tiempo para leer, ya no tienes excusa. Simplemente tienes que ponerte unos auriculares, encender tu reproductor de audio y disfrutar de esas Leyendas, adentrándote en la “nueva tradición oral” que te transportará a diferentes ambientes de irrealidad y misterio siempre situados en una realidad cercana gracias a sus logradas descripciones.

Many years ago, oral tradition was the way in which myths and legends were told from generation to generation. Myths talk about gods and heroes, and legends are stories which talk about fantastic facts located in a particular time and in a particular place very well known for the members of a community. This allows people to situate and identify them in a particular place. By this “mouth to mouth” (or better known as “mouth to ear”) kind of transmission through time, legends often have suffered changes and modifications creating, in this way, new versions of them.

This oral tradition has almost disappeared nowadays but, do you know what an audiobook is? Yes, exactly, they are something very similar to the old oral tradition. Now you can choose the book you want to listen to in our library’s large selection and…just enjoy it! But, as we are talking about legends…why don’t you listen to some of the legends which were told in different places of the Spanish geography? Legends by Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer is one of the most important books from the Spanish Romanticism. With this audiobook, you have the chance to listen to very different kind of stories which were orally transmitted in Spain from the Middle Ages to the 19^th century, which was the century when Bécquer compiled them.

Now it’s not an excuse if you don’t have too much time for reading. You just have to take your headsets, turn on your music player and enjoy these legends. You will enter the “new oral tradition” which will take you to fictitious and strange atmospheres, always located in a close reality thanks to an accurate description.

Con la llegada de un nuevo mes, el Instituto Cervantes presenta al autor que será protagonista durante marzo. David Trueba, nacido en Madrid el 10 de septiembre de 1969, es licenciado en Ciencias de la Información, en la rama de Periodismo por la Universidad Complutense de Madrid. Además de periodista, David también es escritor y tiene una reconocida carrera en el mundo del cine; como director, guionista e incluso actor.

Especialmente relevante es su andadura cinematográfica. A pesar de las dos nominaciones a los Premios Goya por el largometraje La Buena Vida, su proyecto más ambicioso es Soldados de Salamina, una adaptación de la novela de Javier Cercas, cuya proyección podremos disfrutar durante el mes de marzo en el Instituto Cervantes. Además, David Trueba, fue vicepresidente de la Academia de Cine Español entre los años 2004 y 2007.

No queda todo ahí porque en su faceta como escritor podemos destacar tres novelas: Abierto toda la noche, Cuatro amigos y Saber perder. Todas están en nuestra biblioteca.

Una oportunidad para descubrir y disfrutar al polifacético artista español, que será autor del mes de marzo en el Instituto Cervantes.

With the arrival of a new month, the Instituto Cervantes presents a new author to be featured during March.

David Trueba, born in Madrid on September 1969, has a degree Journalism but he is also a writer and has a distinguished career in the world of cinema as a director, writer and even as an actor.

Particularly relevant is his film career. Despite the two Goya Award nominations for the film La buena vida (The Good Life), his most ambitious project is Soldiers of Salamis, an adaptation of the novel by Javier Cercas. Soldiers of Salamis will be screened during the month of March at the Instituto Cervantes inDublin. In addition, David Trueba, was vice president of the Spanish Film Academy between 2004 and 2007.

In his role as a writer we can highlight three novels: Abierto toda la noche (Open all night), Cuatro amigos (Four friends) and Saber perder (Know how to lose). All of them are in our library.

An opportunity to discover and enjoy this versatile Spanish artist, our author selected during the month of March.

El Instituto Cervantes de Dublín inauguró, el martes  21 de Febrero, la exposición Desigñ: Spanish Accent in Design con una charla de presentación sobre diseño y sostenibilidad seguida de una degustación de vino español.

La exposición está compuesta por 70 carteles originales que dan buena fe del excelente momento creativo por el que pasa el diseño español. Estas obras han sido minuciosamente escogidas entre trabajos de prestigiosas marcas como Camper o Munich y aclamados diseñadores como Manolo Blahnik o Patricia Urquiola.

La presentación tuvo su momento álgido con la intervención de Carolina Blázquez, Directora Creativa de la empresa española ECOALF, dedicada al diseño de ropa urbana y accesorios que combina innovación tecnológica con reciclaje y sostenibilidad.

Carolina mostró al sorprendido público un interesante chaleco fabricado a partir de redes de pesca recicladas: “Fabricamos un metro de hilo reciclado por cada 135 gramos de redes de pesca desechadas que de otra modo acabarían siendo arrojadas al mar. Este es un buen ejemplo de nuestra política de sostenibilidad que combina diseño y reciclaje,” decía Carolina con evidente satisfacción.

No menos interesante fue la presentación ofrecida por Kate Cronin, representante de la empresa de diseño irlandesa Klickity, que mostró a la ya cautivada audiencia las ventajas de un diseño que innova a la vez que respeta el medio ambiente: “Creemos firmemente en enfoque alternativo del diseño capaz de combinar novedad, creatividad y sostenibilidad en todos nuestros productos,” dijo Kate.

Rosa León, Directora del Instituto, subrayó la importancia de ésta exposición a la vez que se mostró orgullosa de que el Instituto de Dublin sea el primer centro en ofrecer esta muestra fuera de España. “Desigñ llega al Instituto Cervantes de Dublín con el objetivo de poner en valor el diseño español,” explicó Rosa.

Esta exposición gratuita estará abierta al público hasta el 28 de Abril en la sala de exposiciones del Instituto Cervantes de Dublín situado en Lincoln House, Dublin 2.

El Instituto Cervantes también ofrece una amplia oferta de cursos de lengua española así como un variado programa de actividades culturales con el objeto de difundir la cultura y costumbres de España e Hispanoamérica.

Instituto Cervantes Dublín inaugurated, last Tuesday 21st of February, the exhibition Desigñ: Spanish Accent in Design with an opening talk about innovation and recycling followed by a Spanish wine tasting.

The exhibition comprises 70 original posters of various disciplines which illustrates why the accent is on Spanish design at present. Selected works includes projects alongside some internationally recognised Spanish creations and brand names such as Camper and Munich or designers such as Manolo Blahnik, and Patricia Urquiola.

Much attention was given to the intervention of Carolina Blázquez, member of ECOALF, a Spanish company which designs clothes and accessories using recycled materials. She showed to the amazed audience a waistcoat made by recycled fishing nets. “We make one meter of recycled thread out of 135 grams of fishing nets that otherwise would be thrown into the ocean. This is just one example of our policy of combining design, recycling and sustainability.” Blázquez said.

Kate Cronin, representative of Klickity, an Irish contemporary design company, talked about the advantages of innovative design bearing the environment in mind: “We believe in a holistic approach to design and strive to balance creativity, innovation and sustainability in all our work,” said Cronin.

Rosa León, the Director of the institute, emphasised that Instituto Cervantes Dublín is the first centre to launch this exhibition outside Spain. “Desigñ arrives at Dublin with the objective of giving Spanish design its rightful place,” she said.

Desigñ Exhibition will be on show for free until 28th of April in the exhibitions venue of the Instituto Cervantes Dublín located at Lincoln House in Dublin 2.

Besides this exhibition, Instituto Cervantes also offers a wide range of cultural activities and language courses to promote and spread the Spanish language and Spanish and Hispanic-American culture.

Sergio Inurrigarro, presidente de la Asociación Promezcal, tuvo la amabilidad de sumarse a nuestros Encuentros en la Biblioteca para introducirnos en el interesante mundo del mezcal, uno de los secretos mejor guardados de la tradición culinaria mexicana que sin embargo está considerado nada menos que el alcohol más perfecto del mundo para la ingesta humana. Sergio Inurrigarro nos explica las razones, además de hacer un recorrido por su historia, propiedades y técnica de degustación.

El mezcal es fruto de la planta del ágave y, además, del mestizaje entre el viejo y el nuevo mundo. Entre otras curiosidades históricas, Inurrigarro relata cómo el mezcal era utilizado por los conquistadores españoles como reclamo para hacer a los indígenas exprimir el oro y la plata de las minas.

Esta bebida “mística, mágica y afrodisíaca” no puede tomarse a la ligera, sino que precisa de una técnica específica para su correcta degustación, la llamada “Técnica de la cata del beso”, explica Inurrigarro. Solo así se aseguran sus infinitas propiedades, entre las que se encuentran, citando al escritor mexicano Andrés Henestrosa, la de despertar el espíritu y hacer que el mundo se vea mucho mejor.

Los Encuentros en la Biblioteca son una serie de entrevistas a personalidades del mundo de las letras y la cultura en general que se realizan en la biblioteca del Instituto Cervantes de Dublín. Esta iniciativa nació con el propósito de servir de plataforma de encuentro entre escritores y lectores y de contribuir a nuestra misión de difusión de la cultura en español.

Sergio Inurrigarro, President of the Association Pro-Mezcal, was so kind to join our Meetings at the library to introduce us the interesting world of mezcal, which is one of the best kept secrets of Mexican gastronomy. The mezcal is however considered the most perfect alcohol for human intake. In this video Sergio Inurrigarro explains the reasons, as well as making a journey over the history, benefits and tasting techniques.

Mezcal comes from the agave plant as well as from the fusion of the Old and the New World. Among other historic curiosities, Inurrigarro recounts how the Spanish conquerors used the mezcal to attract the indigenous population to mine gold and silver for them.

This “mystic, magical and aphrodisiac” drink cannot be taken lightly. On the contrary, a very specific technique called “Kiss tasting technique” must be applied for tasting, explains Inurrigarro. Only by doing this we can preserve its many benefits, such as those referred by Mexican writer Andrés Henestrosa: awakening the spirit and making people perceive the world much better.

Meetings at the library is the title of a series of interviews with important figures in literature and the arts in general held at the Library of Instituto Cervantes Dublin. This initiative was conceived with the aim to serve as a meeting point between writers and readers and to contribute to our mission of disseminating the culture in Spanish.

Si quieres practicar tu español a través de la música, te proponemos este taller interactivo en el que aprenderás y mejorarás tu español de forma entretenida y en una atmósfera relajada.  

En las sesiones se  trabajarán diferentes canciones en español por medio de audiciones, contextualización del autor y estilo, traducción y comprensión de las letras, discusión y profundización de usos de expresiones idiomáticas y por supuesto, interpretación del tema.

Dirigido a alumnos de cualquier nivel dispuestos a pasar un buen rato con ganas de aprender, participar y por supuesto cantar. Estará impartido por el músico y compositor Fernando Blanco Vicente.

El taller es gratuito y  tiene plazas limitadas, así que date prisa y envía un correo a reservas.dublin@cervantes.es para conseguir tu lugar.

Las fechas del taller son las siguientes:

08/03/2012 (15:30-17:30 pm)

15/03/2012 (15:30-17:30 pm)

22/03/2012 (15:30-17:30 pm)

29/03/2012 (15:30-17:30 pm)

If you want to practise your Spanish through songs, we offer you this workshop in which you can practise and improve your Spanish in an entertaining way and with a great atmosphere.

This is your opportunity thanks to this interactive workshop that will enable you to improve your Spanish through music. The sessions will offer you the opportunity to work with Spanish songs, listen to the music and explore the author and his/her style in context. You will work on translation and lyrics comprehension, discussion, exploration of sayings and phrases and, of course, song interpretation! Learn and practise your Spanish in a relaxed and fun environment.

Designed for students of any level who want to have fun while learning, participating and, of course, ‘singing’. It will be taught by Spanish music and composer Fernando Blanco Vicente.

The workshop is free and there is a limited number of spaces so hurry up and send an email to get a place to reservas.dublin@cervantes.es

The dates of the workshop are as follows:

08/03/2012 (15:30-17:30 pm)

15/03/2012 (15:30-17:30 pm)

22/03/2012 (15:30-17:30 pm)

29/03/2012 (15:30-17:30 pm)

Para finalizar  la II Semana de Cine Chileno,  hoy proyectamos la película “Gente Decente” del director Edgardo Vierek.

La película trata de un joven y exitoso abogado que está a punto de casarse pero comete un error fatal que lo lleva a verse involucrado en la misteriosa muerte de una mujer al servicio de clientes adinerados.

A tan solo unos días de su matrimonio, y con todas las pruebas en su contra, deberá buscar al verdadero asesino y limpiar su reputación antes de que sea demasiado tarde, viéndose a cada minuto involucrado en un intrincado laberinto que combina el suspense con momentos de intenso erotismo.

Esperamos que hayáis disfrutado de esta semana de cine, y no os perdáis esta última entrega.

To finish the 2nd Chilean Cinema Week we will show today “Decent People” by Edgardo Vierek.

The movie takes place in Santiago.  Andrés Barros is a partner at an up-and-coming law firm. He’s getting married, and his friends, including his partner Roberto, arrange a bachelor party where he spends the night with a prostitute, Gloria.

She later shows up at his office and the passion continues, against his better judgment. Soon, Andrés is entangled in sex, lies, videotape, and blackmail. His relationship with Rosario, his fiancée, is strained, he neglects his work, and there’s a dead body in a bathtub. A pimp, a whore, a doorman, a receptionist: where are the decent people?

We hope that you have enjoyed this cinema week.  Don´t miss this last movie!

La II Semana de Cine Chileno da un salto de género en su tercera entrega con una divertidísima comedia juvenil. Promedio rojo (2004) es una co-producción chileno-española que logró arrastrar a numerosos espectadores chilenos al cine, poniendo una vez más el punto de mira en la producción cinematográfica nacional. Su director, Nicolás López, a sus solo 29 años, está ya habituado a los éxitos de taquilla con películas como Qué pena tu vida (2010) o Qué pena tu boda (2011).

Promedio Rojo es la primera película chilena que emplea efectos especiales digitales para contar una historia donde se cruzan superhéroes, abuelos muertos sacados de La Guerra de las galaxias y dibujos animados que interactuarán con la realidad.

Hoy, 29 de febrero, a las 18h en Café Literario.

The 2nd Chilean Cinema Season drastically moves to a different genre in its third session with this hilarious teenage comedy. Promedio rojo (2004) is a Chilean-Spanish coproduction which made Chilean audiences go en masse to the cinema and put the spotlight once more on the national film making. The director, Nicolás López, at 29, is already in used to box office hits with films like Qué pena tu vida (2010) and Qué pena tu boda (2011).

Promedio rojo is the first Chilean movie to use digital effects to combine cartoon animation with reality, creating a world in which you can see characters of every type imaginable, from superheroes to grandparents, from the deceased to intergalactic heroes you would expect to see in movies like Star Wars.

Today, February 29th at 6pm at Café Literario.

Hoy continuamos con la segunda sesión del ciclo de cine chileno contemporáneo organizado por el Instituto Cervantes de Dublín en cooperación con la Embajada de Chile en Irlanda. Con esta muestra intentamos ofrecer al público irlandés una perspectiva del arte cinematográfico chileno contemporáneo.

La película de hoy es “Los debutantes”, que cuenta la historia de dos hermanos huérfanos que llegan a Santiago a probar suerte. El menor quiere “perder su virginidad” (Víctor) y el mayor (Silvio) necesita dinero para mantenerlos a ambos.

La vida de los hermanos se quiebra cuando Silvio encuentra trabajo como asistente personal de un empresario mafioso y no puede resistir la tentación de iniciar un romance clandestino con Gracia, la chica que por el día trabaja como taquillera en un cine porno y por la noche como bailarina en un club nocturno. De ella, que además es la amante de su jefe, es de quien Víctor se enamora platónicamente.

No recomendada a menores de 18 años.

Today we show the second film of the Chilean Cinema Season organized by Instituto Cervantes in cooperation with the Embassy of Chile in Ireland. We intend to offer an insight into the cinematographic contemporary art from Chile to the Irish audience.

The film that we show today is “Los debutantes”. It tells the story of two orphan brothers who arrive to Santiago to try their luck. The younger one (Víctor) dreams with losing his virginity and the older brother (Silvio) needs money to support both of them. Their lives change when Silvio finds a job as personal assistant for a mafia businessman and he cannot resist the temptation of starting a secret romance with Gracia, the girl who works during the day as the box-office clerk of a porn cinema and at night as a stripper in a night club. She also is also the lover of Silvio´s boss and Victor falls in love with her platonically.

Fit for viewing by persons aged 18 years+

La Biblioteca Nacional celebra su tercer siglo de existencia con una variada programación que constituye una de las propuestas culturales más atractivas de este año.

La Biblioteca Nacional de España no es solo una de las instituciones culturales más emblemáticas de nuestro país, sino que es además una de las que mejor ha sabido adaptarse a los nuevos tiempos, a los desafíos de cada momento.

Rememorando sus orígenes, en diciembre de 1711, el Rey Felipe V aprobó la creación de una Real Biblioteca abierta al público que se inauguró en marzo de 1722. Se dice pronto, pero la Biblioteca Nacional es también la más antigua de todas cuantas existen en los países de habla hispana.

Alberga 30 millones de documentos, 240 kilómetros lineales de estanterías, con un depósito robotizado de más de 30 kilómetros. Para facilitar la consulta de los distintos tipos de fondos, se encuentra dividida en salas: monografías desde el siglo XIX (Salón General), fondo antiguo (Sala Cervantes), revistas y periódicos (Sala de Prensa y Revistas), grabados, fotografías, mapas y dibujos (Sala Goya), partituras, registros sonoros y audiovisuales (Sala Barbieri).

Con motivo de su aniversario la Biblioteca Nacional de España inauguró la exposición “300 años haciendo historia”, que organiza junto con Acción Cultural Española.

Hasta el 15 de Abril, se expondrán sólo 240 obras, entre las que se encuentran tesoros como, El ‘Beato de Liébana’, códices de Leonardo da Vinci, grabados de Rembrandt, Velázquez, Durero, Piranesi y Goya; incunables, manuscritos de Lope de Vega, Galdós, Gómez dela Serna, Dalí, Lorca, Borges y unos sonetos autógrafos de Miguel Hernández escritos en la cárcel.

Una especie de viaje en el tiempo, pero también una mirada hacia el futuro porque su gran reto es ese desde hace unos años: modernizarse y acercarse al gran público digitalizando parte de sus fondos y aumentando su presencia en las redes sociales.

Con motivo de su “cumpleaños”, la biblioteca ha creado una pagina especifica para estos actos Pagina del Tricentenario, donde podemos encontrar toda la información sobre los próximo actos conmemorativos.

The National Library commemorates its third century of existence with a varied programme that is one of the most attractive cultural proposals of this year.

The National Library of Spain is not only one of the most emblematic of our cultural institutions but it has also changed with the times adapting to the challenges of modern society.

Going back to its origins, in December of 1711, the King Felipe V approved the project of creating a Royal Library open to the public, it was opened in March 1722. It is easy to say but it is not only the oldest and the most important library of Spain, but also of the rest of the Spanish speaker countries.

It contains 30 million documents, 240 linear km of shelves, with a mechanical deposit of over 30km. It is divided in different rooms to make consultation easier: monographs since the XIX century (General Room), old archive (Cervantes Room), magazines and newspapers (Press Room), engravings, photographs, maps and drawings (Goya Room), music scores, sound recordings and audiovisual recordings (Barbieri Room).

An exhibition has been organized to celebrate the anniversary of the library. The name is “National Library of Spain: 300 Years Making History” in cooperation with Acción Cultural Española.

240 works are shown until the 15th of April, we can find treasures as “El Beato de Liebana”, Leonardo da Vinci´s codex, engravings by Rembrandt, Velázquez, Durero, Piranesi and Goya; incunabulum by Lope de Vega, Galdós, Gómez de la Serna, Dalí, Lorca, Borges and and some autographed sonnets written by Miguel Hernández while he was in jail.

It is a kind of time travel but also focussing on the future. In the last few years the biggest challenge of the institution has been to modernize and seek a larger public by digitalizing part of its funds and showing a great activity in the social networks.

The National Library has created a special web-site to celebrate its “birthday” where you can check all the inform
ation about the next commemorative events. The name of the web site is Página del Tricentenario.

La incesante actividad cultural del Instituto Cervantes de Dublín nos trae hoy un encuentro poético a nuestro Café Literario, a las 6pm.

En otra voz pretende ser un homenaje a cuatro voces. Aquellas que los autores pusieron de su mano y letra y la de sus traductores. En un recital que une a Irlanda y a España, el castellano y el inglés, homenajeamos a Thomas MacGreevy y a Miguel Hernández con las voces de Luis Ingelmo (Palencia, 1970), que leerá poemas de MacGreevy en español y de Michael Smith (Dublín, 1942), que leerá poemas de Miguel Hernández en inglés.

El poeta irlandés Thomas MacGreevy (1893 – 1967) ha sido una figura importante en la historia de la literatura moderna irlandesa. Además de poeta, fue director del Museo Nacional de Irlanda desde 1950 hasta 1963.

Miguel Hernández Gilabert (Orihuela, 1920 – 1942) fue un poeta y dramaturgo de especial relevancia en la literatura española del siglo XX. Aunque tradicionalmente se le ha encuadrado en la generación del 36, mantuvo una mayor proximidad con la generación anterior hasta el punto de ser considerado por Dámaso Alonso como «genial epígono de la generación del 27».

+ info: http://www.miguelhernandezvirtual.es/new/
+ info: http://www.macgreevy.org/index.jsp

The non-stop cultural activity of Instituto Cervantes Dublin will bring us today a poetry reading at the Café Literario at 6pm.

In a different voice is conceived as a tribute in four voices. Those voices that authors and translators of their work created. It is a reading that brings Ireland and Spain, Spanish and English together. We pay tribute to Thomas MacGreevy and Miguel Hernández with Luis Ingelmo’s voice, who will read poems by MacGreevy in Spanish and Michael’s Smith’s voice, who will read poems by Miguel Hernández in English.

The Irish poet Thomas MacGreevy (1893-1967) was a pivotal figure in the history of Irish modern literature. He was also director of the National Gallery of Ireland from 1950 to 1963. Luis Ingelmo, (Palencia, 1970) translator of English work into Spanish, will read some of his translations of MacGreevy´s poems into Spanish.

Miguel Hernández Gilabert (Orihuela, 1920-1942) was a renowned poet and playwright in the Spanish literature of the 20th century. Traditionally he is considered a member of the Generation of ‘36 although he was closer to the former generation to the extent that writer Dámaso Alonso referred to him as a shining example of the Generation of ‘27. The Irish poet Michael Smith (Dublin, 1932) has translated and published work by important classical authors; amongst them are Miguel Hernández’s works.

+ info: http://www.miguelhernandezvirtual.es/new/
+ info: http://www.macgreevy.org/index.jsp