Blog del Instituto Cervantes de Dublín

Nuestros encuentros literarios en la biblioteca reciben hoy la visita de Diego Valverde Villena.

Carmen Sanjulián  charla con el escritor hispano peruano sobre sus libros y sus poemas. Diego Valverde Villena participó en el Café Literario del Instituto Cervantes de Dublín junto a Anamaría Crowe Serrano el pasado mes de mayo.

Esperamos que disfrutéis de la entrevista y de la lectura de sus poemas.

We continue our series of literary encounters in the library “5 minutes with…” Diego Valverde Villena

Carmen Sanjulián chats to the poet about his books, ans his relationship with Spain and Perú.  Diego Varverde Villena and Anamaría Crowe Serrano paid us a visit last May.

We hope you enjoy the video.

Tras la pausa veraniega, continuamos con nuestra serie de encuentros digitales en la bitácora de la biblioteca del Instituto Cervantes de Dublín.

Podéis enviar vuestras preguntas, en forma de comentario a esta página, desde hoy, día 07, hasta el día 18 de octubre. David Roas y Cristina Fernández Cubas responderán a ellas el mismo día 18, de 4:30 a 5:30 hora de Dublín.

Posteriormente, a las 6:00, Cristina Fernández Cubas y David Roas mantendrán una conversación sobre literatura fantástica y sobre el cuento,  un género literario que cada vez cuenta con más adeptos. Será en nuestro Café Literario.

Bibliotecarios: ¡animad a vuestros lectores a participar!

Profesores: ¡animad a vuestros estudiantes!

Muchas gracias a Cristina Fernández Cubas y a David Roas por su disponibilidad y amabilidad. Muchas gracias a todos vosotros por participar.

Aquí os dejamos algunos materiales para preparar la “entrevista”:

Podcast El ojo crítico: Charlamos con Serrat y Cristina Fernández Cubas (24 de febrero de 2011): escuchar el programa

Podcast De ida y vuelta: Charlamos con Cristina Fernández Cubas (8 de marzo de 2011): escuchar el programa

Video Cristina Fernández Cubas y el destino del cuento en EL PAÍS. Ver video

Video Entrevista con la ganadora del Premio Salambó en Avión de papel TV

Encuentro digital de Cristina Fernández Cubas en Hay Festival el 8 de octubre de 2011.

Cristina Fernández Cubas ha sido nuestra autora del mes de septiembre. En Escritoras.com encontraréis su biografía y bibliografía.

Las preguntas serán moderadas antes de su publicación. Solo podrán ser publicadas aquellas que, durante la hora de duración del encuentro, David Roas y Cristina Fernández Cubas alcancen a responder.

Para cualquier duda, estamos a vuestra disposición en bibdub(at)cervantes.es, @icdublin o Facebook.

¡Os esperamos!

After summer, we continue our series of virtual interviews through the library’s blog here at Instituto Cervantes Dublin, whereby the audience asks the questions.

You can send your questions, as a commentary to this page, starting from today, Friday 7th, until Tuesday 18th October. Cristina Fernández Cubas and David Roas will answer them on the 18th April, from 4:30pm to 5:30pm local Dublin time.

Following this, at 6pm David Roas and Cristina Fernández Cubas will discuss about fantasy literature in our Café Literario.

Teachers: encourage your students to take part!

Librarians: invite your readers to get involved!

Sincere thanks to Cristina Ferández Cubas and David Roas for their generosity and good humour. And thank you to all of you for taking part.

Here is some material so that you can prepare your “interview”!

Podcast El ojo crítico: In conversation with Serrat and Cristina Fernández Cubas (24th February 2011): Listen audio

Podcast De ida y vuelta: In conversation with Cristina Fernández Cubas (8th March 2011): Listen audio

Video Cristina Fernández Cubas about the future of short stories as a literary genre in EL PAÍS. Watch video

Video Interview with the winner of  The Salambó Award in Avión de papel TV

Virtual Interview Cristina Fernández Cubas in Hay Festival (8 October 2011)

Microstories by David Roas.

Texts by David Roas in La comunidad inconfesable.

Article. El silencio de la escritura. David Roas writes about “Bartleby and co.”

Book review by José Luis García Martín about Tras los límites de lo real by David Roas.

Book review by Miguel Ángel Muñoz about Tras los límites de lo real byDavid Roas.

Cristina Fernández Cubas was also our author of the month throughout the month of September.

Questions will be moderated before being posted online. Only those questions to which David Roas and Cristina Fernández Cubas are able to respond during the hour-long discussion will be uploaded.

If you have any queries, we’re only too happy to help at bibdub(at)cervantes.es, @icdublin and Facebook!

Rafael Escuredo nació en Estepa, Sevilla, en 1944. Abogado y escritor, fue diputado y Presidente de la Junta de Andalucía desde 1977 hasta 1984. En las últimos tiempos, ha compaginado su carrera profesional con su pasión por la escritura.

Ha publicado las novelas Un sueño fugitivo (Planeta, 1994) , Leonor mon amour (Almuzara, 2005) con la que ganó el Premio Andalucía de la Crítica y Te estaré esperando (Almuzara, 2009). Tamibién es autor del poemario Un mal día (Endymión, 1999), y del libro de relatos Cosas de mujeres (Plaza Janés, 2002). La editorial Biblioteca Nueva publicó en 2004 un recopilatorio de sus artículos de prensa, Andalucía Irredenta.

En 2011, Rafael Escuredo ha publicado El Blanco círculo del miedo, en la editorial Edhasa, novela negra muy bien recibida por la crítica y que el próximo día 12 de octubre será presentada en nuestro Café Literario.

Rafael Escuredo (Estepa, Sevilla, 1944), lawyer and writer, was President of the Junta de Andalucía from 1977 to 1984).

In recent years he has combined his career with his passion for writing. He has published the novels Un sueño fugitivo (Planeta, 1994), Leonor, mon amour (Almuzara, 2005) and Te estaré esperando (Almuzara, 2009).

Other work includes the collection of poems Un mal día (Endymión, 1999), short stories Cosas de mujeres (Plaza & Janés, 2002) and a compilation of his newspaper articles, Andalucía Irredenta (Biblioteca Nueva, 2004).

Rafael Escuredo will visit our Café Literario on Wednesday, 12th October, to talk about his latest novel, El Blanco Círculo del Miedo (Edhasa, 2011).

Cristina Fernández Cubas nació en Arenys de Mar, Barcelona en 1945. Estudió Derecho y Periodismo en la ciudad condal y desde muy joven ejerció como periodista.

Vivió durante dos años en Sudamérica y durante diez meses en El Cairo, donde estudió árabe. Allí recibió la carta de la editorial Tusquets que le anunciaba su intención de publicar, por primera vez, sus cuentos. De esta forma, “Mi hermana Elba” vio la luz en octubre de 1980.

Fernández Cubas utiliza elementos de la narración fantástica para desarrollar sus historias. Precisamente sobre literatura fantástica versará su intervención en el Instituto Cervantes de Dublín el próximo 18 de octubre. En septiembre, ella es nuestra autora del mes.

Cristina Fernández Cubas was born in Arenys de Mar, Spain, in 1945. She studied Law and Journalism in Barcelona, and began her career as a journalist at an early age.

She lived in South America for two years, and spent a further ten months in Cairo, where she studied Arabic. It was there that she received a letter from Tusquets publishing house announcing their desire to publish her short stories for the first time. And thus, “Mi hermana Elba” was published in October of 1980.

Fernández Cubas utilises elements of fantasy narration in the development of her storylines. We will be delighted to welcome Cristina Ferández Cubas in discussion on fantasy literature, here in Instituto Cervantes, this coming 18th October. Throughout September, she is our author of the month

Nuestros encuentros literarios en la biblioteca celebran hoy el encuentro de “5 minutos con… “ Luis García Montero

Carmen Sanjulián  charla con el escritor granadino sobre sus libros y sus poemas. También sobre Granada y sobre la felicidad, entre otras cosas. Luis García Montero nos visitó junto a Almudena Grandes el pasado mes de marzo.

Esperamos que disfrutéis de la entrevista.

We continue our series of literary encounters in the library “5 minutes with…” Luis García Montero

Carmen Sanjulián chats to the writer from Madrid about his books and hobbies.  Luis García Montero y Almudena Grandes paid us a visit last March.

We hope you enjoy the video.

Nuestros encuentros literarios en la biblioteca celebran hoy el encuentro de “5 minutos con… “ Almudena Grandes

Carmen Sanjulián  charla con la escritora madrileña sobre sus novelas y aficiones. Almudena Grandes nos visitó junto a Luis García Montero el pasado mes de marzo.

Esperamos que la disfrutéis.

We continue our series of literary encounters in the library “5 minutes with…” Almudena Grandes

Carmen Sanjulián chats to the writer from Madrid about his books and hobbies.  Almudena Grandes and Luis García Montero paid us a visit last March.

We hope you enjoy the video.

Nuestra serie de encuentros literarios en la biblioteca recibe hoy a “5 minutos con… ” Manuel Vicent

Pilar Garrido  charla con el escritor valenciano sobre literatura, periodismo, lecturas y aficiones. Manuel Vicent nos visitó el pasado mes de abril junto a Ángel Harguindey para presentar la novela “Aguirre el Magnífico”

Esperamos que os guste.

We continue our series of literary encounters in the library “5 minutes with…” Manuel Vicent.

Pilar Garrido chats to the writer from Valencia about literature, journalism, reading habits and hobbies.  Manuel Vicent paid us a visit to present his last novel “Aguirre el Magnífico”.

We hope you enjoy it.

Virtual interview with Juan Cruz, Instituto Cervantes Dublin Library, 14th June 2011. Translated by Emer Cassidy.

Hector Barco Cobalea

Good afternoon,

I’d like to throw out a few questions, and chance being so lucky as to have them answered by Mr. Juan Cruz Ruiz:

– Do you think journalism is truly free, or is it subject to certain interests, not just political, but also economic, in that huge economic and/or political organisations buy advertising space from the main media providers, this being one of their main sources of income? 

– What is your take on billions of dollars being shifted in just a few days to save the banks, whilst at the same time, the Food and Agriculture Organization requested 12,000 million dollars to fight hunger across the planet and was turned down?

– Is the average citizen justified in feeling indignant?

Thank you to all involved for enabling me to send in my questions.

Regards,

Hector.

Juan Cruz
Héctor, I had written a long reply, but cyberspace swallowed it up.

In summary:
Journalism is free to the same extent that people are: within limits. We are all dependent on certain interests. Newspapers as well. Nobody is completely free. The press needs to have strong businesses behind them in order to withstand the pressures on their editorial policies. And that’s why advertising is so necessary; without advertising, newspapers would certainly be at the will of economic and political interests.

The banks were rescued with public money, and they must return that money. Without a doubt, the terms with which they were given the money could have been stricter, but it’s not true that it was given to them freely and lightly, that is just not the case. I agree that they should have been penalised for their insane dealings. But within the capitalist system, if such mechanisms weren’t possible, it would lead to global disaster. Should we change the system? Let’s change it. But, in the meantime, this is what we’re left with.

Of course citizens are justified in feeling indignant. And, not just that, but also, worried, questioning, doubtful. And to act on their indignation, so that it doesn’t anchor them down with futile feelings of powerlessness and depression.

David Carrión
Good afternoon, Mr. Cruz. What motivated Vargas Llosa to write The Dream of the Celt? Was it reading The Heart of Darkness, was it Casement’s link with Peru, or his studies of Adam Hochschild’s work…?

Juan Cruz
In my opinion, Vargas Llosa always begins writing a new project once his imagination is sparked, and after finishing the fiction work, The Bad Girl, he decided to follow the footsteps of Casement, an Irishman who lived a controversial but fascinating life.

Bringing this life to the masses required an enormous intellectual, literary, and even physical effort, on the part of Vargas Llosa. And the outcome reads like an adventure as told by a special envoy to hell itself.

The author himself explained that it was reading Conrad, in particular, that motivated him to write this spectacular narrative essay. He is a voracious reader; he wanted to really scrutinise the finer details of a character, and that’s where Roger Casement comes in, in full-body portrait, right to the depths of his misfortunes.

Laura Martín
Is The Heart of Darkness a racist book, or a damning report of European colonisation? What was the aim of The Dream of the Celt, if indeed there was one?

Juan Cruz
I don’t think Conrad’s book was racist; from our current perspective on racism, or inequality, we could equally be tempted to condemn Madame Bovary, for example; and I think Conrad’s literature should be read as a great voyage of the mind, rather than a sociological reflection on the author’s ideology or view of the world and himself at that particular moment in time.

DCarrión
Conrad knew Casement and he wrote in this diary that of all the people he had known during his stay in the Congo, it was Casement he admired the most. So why did Joseph Conrad not sign the petition for clemency for Roger Casement, unlike Yeats, Bernard Shaw and Conan Doyle who all signed it?

Juan Cruz
Vargas Llosa dwelled a lot on that incident; I think Conrad felt cornered and slightly envious and he bore Casement a grudge, being someone who tended not emphasise his own talents, he felt outshone by Casement during his time in Africa. That’s why he left him in the lurch, and frankly, that was very hurtful to Casement. Similar to other times in his life when he felt cast off.

LMartín
What was the dream that was driving Roger Casement when he arrived in Congo?

Juan Cruz
It was a philanthropic dream. He truly wanted to play a part in the abolition of slavery there where it was actually taking place, and that’s exactly what he did. Every fibre of his being was devoted to helping people, that was what he lived for, to help others free themselves from the shackles of feudal despotism. It was then used as a symbol which some tried to make controversial by drawing tenuous parallels with his own issues with his sexuality. Vargas Llosa pays him heartfelt tribute, at pains to put right the controversy created by the British.

DCarrión
What does Mario Vargas Llosa have in common with Antonio Conselheiro from The War of the End of the World, Alejandro Mayta from The Real Life of Alejandro Mayta, and with Roger Casement?

Juan Cruz
I think the only thing Vargas Llosa has in common with those characters is that he worked out the minutest details of their lives with the same intensity he then gave to their lives within the storyline, so that they would live on, and stand the test of time, in the minds of his readers.

LMartín
A critic once broke Vargas Llosa’s novels down into 4 broad categories: urbane, historical, dealing with rural Peru, and erotic novels. Could we consider The Dream of the Celt a historical novel?

Juan Cruz
I think putting The Dream of the Celt into the historical box would be to take away some of its power and impact. From my point of view, aside from being a novel which has its roots in history, it is more a great anachronistic, or even uchronic, report on a fascinating era by both Mario, the reporter, and Vargas Llosa, the novelist. And it is also a wartime plea for human rights, a book denouncing slavery in favour of romanticism, as man’s conviction to live in harmony with his fellow kind.

DCarrión
Are there any elements in The Dream of the Celt which are new to Vargas Llosa’s work?

Juan Cruz
I think what is new is the book in its entirety; Vargas Llosa always approaches a subject from a completely new standpoint. He could have put together an essay of the proportions of a novella, based on his readings, and he read widely around the subject. Instead, he honed in on the different areas of Roger’s biography, brought them together onto the one platform in his mind, and from there he went on to create a volume in which he demonstrated his skills as a reconstructor of stories, but also, as a great fiction author. He has never said so himself, never actually specified it, but Mario Vargas Llosa, the fiction author, is also present in The Dream of the Celt.

LMartín
If García Márquez’s work could be seen as a portrayal of power, and its vestiges, could Vargas Llosa’s work be seen as a portrayal of the resistance to or the growing awareness of that power?

Juan Cruz
I think that’s a good analogy. But, actually, I think all of Mario Vargas Llosa’s work has to do with power, even when it seems more to do with other subjects. Particularly, A Fish in the Water, which despite having been written in the midst of the biographical journey he was undertaking at the time, it is like the mid-point in which all of his ambitions, tragedies, and the majority of his books converge.

DCarrión
Vargas Llosa, Cabrera Infante and José Saramago. These are perhaps the three authors, and friends, who have most influenced your literary life. Is that right? Are there any others you would add?

Juan Cruz
My life in particular? Perhaps. I would add Onetti and Borges. And also, Unamuno’s poetry. And Kafka. Well, literature is never-ending. Oh, and Cortázar.

LMartín
In 1972, you published “Crónica de la nada hecha pedazos”. You said that all of your work published in book format originates from this book, because it was in this book you began using reality to narrate your obsessions, dreams, and how those dreams can be broken. Tell us about your broken dreams. Are there any still lingering around?

Juan Cruz
My broken dreams are still around. Those that aren’t are the ones I haven’t been able to break.

DCarrión
“Crónica de la nada…” is a sesentayochista chronicle [referring to the revolution of 1968] turned into a novel. Do you think one day there will be a 15M [common abbreviation for the mass protest held on the 15th May 2011, in Madrid, against political mismanagement of the economic crisis] chronicle, or would that be a book that would be worth writing?

Juan Cruz
It should be written. I’ve just interviewed Javier Cercas about the subject. He is very clear on how (extremely) important this phenomenon is. Something is changing, without a doubt, and for the better, despite this endless tide of injustice and corruption we are going through at the moment.

LMartín
The presence of the sea is fundamental in “Retrato de un hombre desnudo” (2005). What does it symbolise? 

Juan Cruz
The sea is life, and thus, it is also death. I was writing a book about the sea as life, and then death turned up out of nowhere. Life has such gravity, it fells us all.

DCarrión
In reference to “Retrato de un hombre…”, imbued as it is with many’s a travel anecdote, you said that no matter how much a person travels, “they are always in the same place”. Which is the place in which you always find yourself? And would you ever like to escape?

Juan Cruz
That’s a phrase by Beckett, and actually he was talking about his relationship with Ireland: “poor me, I thought I had left the island behind me, but the island is always by my side”.

That’s the way it is. My book is based by the sea, so that I can escape, and all of sudden, I see myself as part of the sea, the sea comes with me.

LMartín
Verne and Dickens are some of the authors you read in your teenage years as mentioned in “Retrato de un hombre desnudo”.  Were there other authors before those who also had an important effect on you? Which were the authors, or books, that made you a writer?

Juan Cruz
Before that there were the instruction leaflets that come inside boxes of pills, old torn newspapers my mother had, anything that was susceptible to being read, and an old book by Oscar Wilde, “The Nightingale and the Rose”.

DCarrión
In “Retrato de un hombre desnudo”, you pay homage to your mother, from whom you said you have learnt more than from any other person. “Ojalá octubre” (2007) is a homage to your father. Which questions, or desires, did Juan the boy inherit from him?

Juan Cruz
Uncertainty, things were always about to be either very miserable or very happy, and they were almost always miserable. But there were also wonderful moments in which he was happy. That’s the way I am, I come from him.

LMartín
Was it your childhood from that October which you would have liked to have continued forever?

Juan Cruz
I would like the feeling of childhood to continue forever. To go through all stages of life with the feeling of harmony you capture as a child.

DCarrión
In “Muchas veces me pediste que te contara estos años” (2008), you reflect on time, memory, pain, and growing older. Has this reflection led to any conclusions?

Juan Cruz
It’s a triple reflection which merges into one: our lives are inside of us, on our interior, and inside everything is mixed together into one whole. I am my literature, it explodes inside me. Does that seem pedantic? I’m afraid that’s the way I see it, if you don’t like my answer then forget it, but what I mean is: for me, writing is all of those things, time, memory, pain, and fear of dying. And if what I write doesn’t respond to those precepts, then I feel like I am merely worthlessly distorting my thoughts.

LMartín
Comparing your first book to your current work, it seems like you have given up a certain experimentalism for a lighter style. Is that one of the concessions caused by the commercialisation of the publishing world you mention in “Egos revueltos” (2009)?

Juan Cruz
Oh, not at all, LMartín. It’s simply that over the years I decided to write so that my brothers would read my work, ever since a particular text I wrote so that we would never forget the wonderful woman that was my mother. It’s deliberate, but my brothers don’t buy my books. They feature in them. Except “Egos revueltos”, for certain, although they’re in there somewhere, in some way or another.

LMartín
Would any current publishers dare to publish a new James Joyce?

Juan Cruz
Of course they would. That’s what a publisher’s job should be. To wait for a James Joyce to come along.

DCarrión
On the subject of cultural journalism, there are those who insist that it generally displays a total lack of interest in culture. Do you agree with that? What is there left in the cultural pages of a newspaper if we take away the obituaries and press releases from the various publishers’ and institutions’ press departments?  

Juan Cruz
I think any maximalist views run the risk of being unfair. There are some great cultural journalists, particularly in Latin America, where this type of journalism has become a specialism. And there are some very good ones closer to home as well. And there are very good sources of information on culture out there, despite what you say. Don’t be unfair, my friend!

Thank you very much for your participation.

Related links:

Profile of Juan Cruz on elpais.com, with links to his articles and interviews

• Reviews of Juan Cruz’s books on Lecturalia
• Podcast: Juan Cruz in interview with Mario Vargas Llosa, about the fiction in roman and drama: Fundación Juan March. 27/09/2007
• Podcast: Interview with Juan Cruz after the decease of Portuguese writer José Saramago. Cadena Ser. 19/06/2010
• Podcast: Juan Cruz presents his book “Egos revueltos”. Cadena Ser. 02/03/2010
• Blog: Juan Cruz’s blog in El País “Mira que te lo tengo dicho”
• Virtual interview: Juan Cruz. Journalist and author of “¿Periodismo? ¿Vale la pena vivir para este oficio?”. elpais.com. 17/06/2010
• Video: the 2010 Nobel Prize in Literature Mario Vargas Llosa appears in the CNN+ evening news, where he greets on live the director and journalis of EL PAIS Juan Cruz.

About Mario Vargas Llosa and “The dream of the Celt”

• Video: Interview to Mario Vargas Llosa at Cervantes TV: Voces impresas
• Video: Vargas Llosa in RTVE, Informe Semanal: El sueño del escribidor
• Interview: Vargas Llosa about Roger Casement
• Review: “The dream of the Celt” on El Cultural
• Review: “The dream of the Celt” on El País
• Reviews from the readers: “The dream of the Celt” on Lecturalia
• Official webpage of Mario Vargas Llosa

About Roger Casement

• Roger Casement on Wikipedia.

Juan Cruz is our author of the month throughout the month of June.

Continuamos nuestra serie de encuentros literarios en la biblioteca “5 minutos con… ” Ángel Harguindey

Alfonso Fernández Cid  charla con el periodista madrileño sobre literatura, periodismo, lecturas y aficiones. Ángel Harguindey nos visitó el pasado mes de abril junto a Manuel Vicent para presentar la novela “Aguirre el Magnífico”

Esperamos que os guste.

We continue our series of literary encounters in the library “5 minutes with…” Ángel Hargundey.

Alfonso Fernández Cid chats to the journalist from Madrid about literature, journalism, reading habits and hobbies.  Ángel Harguindey paid us a visit to present the las novel of Manuel Vicent “Aguirre el Magnífico”.

We hope you enjoy it.

Continuamos nuestra serie de encuentros literarios en la biblioteca “5 minutos con… ” Laura Freixas

Carmen Sanjulián  charla con la escritora barcelonesa sobre literatura, mujeres, lecturas y aficiones. Laura Freixas fue nuestra autora del mes de mayo. La autora de “Adolescencia en Barcelona hacia 1970” visitó nuestro café literario para hablarnos de la obra de Carmen Martín Gaite.

Esperamos que os guste.

We continue our series of literary encounters in the library “5 minutes with…” Laura Freixas.

Carmen Sanjulián chats to the writer from Barcelona about literature, feminism, reading habits and hobbies.  Laura Freixas, our author of the month in May, paid us a visit to talk about Carmen Martín Gaite.

We hope you enjoy it.

Juan Cruz Ruiz, periodista, escritor y editor nacido en el Puerto de la Cruz (Tenerife) en 1948 es nuestro autor del mes de junio de 2011.

Juan Cruz estudió Periodismo e Historia en la Universidad de La Laguna y comenzó a escribir en prensa en el semanario Aire Libre con sólo trece años de edad.

Es miembro fundador de El País, donde ejerció también tareas muy diversas, entre otras, la de corresponsal en Londres, jefe de Opinión y redactor jefe de Cultura. Actualmente es adjunto a la dirección del periódico.

Juan Cruz nos visitará el próximo día 16 de junio para hablarnos sobre “El sueño del celta”, última novela del Premio Nobel Mario Vargas Llosa el martes 14 de junio, a las 18h, en nuestro Café Literario.

Con él celebraremos nuestra entrevista digital mensual. Ya podéis enviar vuestras preguntas sobre sus obras, o sobre Mario Vargas Llosa. Juan responderá a ellas el mismo día 14 de junio, de 16.30h a 17.30h, hora de Dublín.

Juan Cruz, journalist, writer and editor was born in Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife, in 1948. He is our author of the month in June 2011.

He studied Journalism and History in the Universidad de la Laguna, Tenerife, and started writing for the press in the weekly sports newspaper Aire Libre, at just thirteen years of age.

He is one of the founding members of Spanish newspaper El País, where he has performed a wide variety of roles, amongst others, correspondent for London, head of the Opinion and Analysis section, and editor in chief of the Culture section. He is currently Assistant Director of the newspaper.

Juan Cruz will discuss “The Dream of the Celt”, the most recent novel, recently published in English, by Mario Vargas Llosa, 2011 winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, on Tuesday 14th June, at 6pm in our Café Literario, here at Instituto Cervantes.

We will also be hosting a virtual interview with Juan on our library’s blog, whereby you can ask him questions about his own work or that of Mario Vargas Llosa. You can send in your questions as of now, Juan will answer them live on Tuesday 14th June, from 4.30pm to 5.30pm.

Más que poesía

Recital literario / Literary reading con Diego Valverde Villena y Anamaría Crowe Serrano.

Poemas de / Poems by Diego Valverde Villena y Anamaría Crowe Serrano

31/05/2011 (18:00 h)

Instituto Cervantes – Café Literario
Lincoln House, Lincoln Place
2 Dublin
(IRLANDA)

Diego Valverde Villena is a Spanish poet of Peruvian origin and Bolivian roots.

Anamaría Crowe Serrano is Irish and lives in Dublin. She works as a teacher of Spanish and translator of contemporary poetry from Italian and Spanish into English.

Más información / More info

Lois Pereiro, nacido en Monforte, Galicia, en 1958, y fallecido 38 años más tarde en su tierra, es “el poeta punk hecho clásico”, según titula el diario Público en un artículo muy interesante dedicado a su vida y a su obra.

Pereiro, víctima del aceite de colza desnaturalizado, de la heroína y del sida escribió que “El cuerpo es una poesía de batalla / una carnicería en el cerebro”.

Hoy el Día de las letras Gallegas está dedicado a él.

El poeta punk hecho clásico

Día das letras galegas

Collected poems by Lois Pereiro

Lois Pereiro en Galego, presentación SlideShare

Lois Pereiro en Blog Galiza

Real Academia Galega

Lois Pereiro, born in Monforte, Galicia, in 1958, and who died 38 years later in his home land, is the “classic punk poet”, according to the title of a very interesting article by Público daily newspaper dedicated to his life and work.

Pereiro, a victim of denatured rapeseed oil, heroin, and AIDS, wrote that “The body is battle poetry / a butcher’s in the brain”. / a slaughter in the brain”.

Today, Galician Literature Day is dedicated to him.

El poeta punk hecho clásico

Día das letras galegas

Collected poems by Lois Pereiro

Lois Pereiro en Galego, presentación SlideShare

Lois Pereiro en Blog Galiza

Real Academia Galega

Continuamos nuestra serie de encuentros literarios en la biblioteca “5 minutos con… “ Luis Alberto de Cuenca

Carmen San Julián  charla con el poeta madrileño sobre sus lecturas y aficiones. Luis Alberto de Cuenca, nuestro autor del mes de marzo, nos visitó para celebrar con nosotros el Día Mundial del Libro en Irlanda.

Esperamos que os guste.

We continue our series of literary encounters in the library “5 minutes with…” Luis Alberto de Cuenca

Carmen San Julián chats to the poet from Madrid about his reading habits and hobbies.  Luis Alberto de Cuenca, our author of the month in March, paid us a visit to celebrate World Book Day with us, here in Ireland.

We hope you enjoy it.