Blog del Instituto Cervantes de Londres

First published in France in 1869, Spain and its People. A record of Recent Travel with historical and topographical notes, was translated by William Henry Davenport Adams, an English writer and journalist (whose biography is available in Wikipedia) in 1872. 

The copy accessible in our library contains numerous engravings by V. Foulquier portraying scenes of the everyday life in Spain, its landscapes, traditions and main episodes of its History. 

As Davenport points out in the preface, 

if Poitou´s pages pretend to no great depth of reflection, they sketch the present condition of Spain, – they delineate its landscapes, they cull the choicest episodes of its history, and touch upon the more conspicuous features of the Spanish character,- with unfailing good sense, quick discrimination, and considerable facility. 

Spanish people and their manners are the object of a lot of criticism made by Poitou through this book, staying such things as “They have no taste” or “Spain, nevertheless, is very good! But, I must own, the Spaniards have somewhat spoiled it; and thanks to them, I return more persuaded that ever of the truth of the adage, that we always learn something by travelling, if it be only to love better our own country”. 

Don Quixote

Starting from the northern cities bordering on France and heading southwards, the author takes particular interest in describing the Cathedral of Toledo, Museo del Prado in Madrid or Zaragoza, which the author believes to be “the most interesting city of Spain”. At the beginning of every chapter a poem of renowned author is included, verses by Byron, Southey and Jorge Manrique, among others. 

USEFUL LINKS 

About the author: 

http://www.fernandoiwasaki.com/articulos_archivos/Poitou.pdf 

About the book: 

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9B02E2DE173BEF34BC4B53DFB766838F669FDE&scp=1&sq=new+publications+spain+an+its+people&st=p 

Online book: 

http://www.archive.org/details/voyageenespagne01poitgoog  

Ediciones El Ciprés was born in León, Spain, just a few weeks ago. They are publishing fiction and poetry and Antino, a novel by Mercedes Unzeta Gullón, is the first title in their catalogue. Good luck!

Fear, love, lack of affection/indifference, greed, life and death are the protagonists of this moving true story led by the character of Antino, a young, attractive and lively thirty-seven-year-old man who, at the happiest and most joyful time of his existence learns that his future is coming to an end, and his life is tagged with an expiry date: a few years, although it will be a lot less.

The story, taking place between a Mediterranean island and the city of Madrid, narrates the existential changes that will occur in the life of Antino and those around him. Changes that make the foreseeable turn into the unexpected, and the unthinkable become something usual.

It is essential to take into consideration how the disease is approached in the story.

It used only a sinister and painful excuse to take the reader down a path in which all human grandeurs and miseries are revealed. AIDS is the slap in the face that the characters get, to wake them up to the realities of life and death; knowing how to approach these realities (which we tend to ignore in our day to day lives) with love and courage is one of life’s greatest difficulties. They are the main issues of the human being, its constants: love, life, doubt, death; the difference is on the approach we use.

The story could lead to self-compassion, be torn apart, to an open heart…

Keeping the courage and at the same time building a tender, accepting atmosphere, making bonds that would be impossible in other circumstances, is an achievement that, to anyone who has ever endured (and who hasn’t?) an intense sentiment of any kind must draw an interest.

The reader is first introduced to the situation as an observer, from the outside, with initial surprise. Then he will become a participant, mainly in the love, but also in the pain, the anguish, the contempt, and the astonishment towards the meanness some fellow men are able to display. And will end up seated by Enriqueta and Cristina’s side, feeling the strong presence of Antino, and laughing with their complicity to the dismayed expression of a young funerary.

A strong optimism, full of hope and joy, floods the environment that nurtures/nourishes the details of the story. Love and humour, in equal quantities, are shared out with generosity in its essential lines.

Some novels turn those who approach them into observers, critics, contributors, masters, pupils,… but to achieve all at the same time is a rarity. This novel is one of those rare pieces.

Elena Miranda Alas. Ediciones El Ciprés (“El Ciprés Publishing House”)

COMPRAR EL LIBRO

info(at)edicioneselcipres.com

Tower Theatre

The Groom has proposed. The gifts are exchanged. The Bride longs for the wedding night. But what of the Horseman who loved her first? Lorca wrote his classic romantic tragedy in 1932, after fellow artist Salvador Dali completed his dripping watches landscape. Harsh, surreal, the play conjures cameos from the Moon and Death. The soundtrack : the percussion of the blood. A sultry night, a crescent in the sky. In the end, who will claim the Bride?

Blood Wedding by Federico Garcia Lorca, in a new version by Tanya Ronder

Directed by Lara Muth

Evenings at 7.45 p.m.
Tuesday March 16th – Saturday March 20th
Matinée at 3 p.m.
Saturday March 20th

Ticket Prices : £11 standard tickets
(£9 concessions/members)

[Click here for details of the venue]

Did you miss any of our cultural events? Don’t worry. Now you can catch up with our book presentations, lectures and workshops.

The Instituto Cervantes Library in London [ICLL] is uploading the cultural events held at the Instituto since January 2010, and gradually, we are digitizing the recordings we keep in our archives since 1992.

Here you are the first one of our podcast series. Enjoy!

Spain, for all its recent changes, continues to be a country perceived by foreigners in terms of stereotypes dating back to the early 19th century. I argue that modern chroniclers fail to reflect the reality of a nation whose already diverse traditions now embrace a multitude of European, South American, and African cultures.´ Michael Jacobs  

Paul Preston described Michael Jacobs, as ´the magical realist hispanist’.  He has been travelling around Spain and the Hispanic world since childhood.

His many books on the country include Between Hopes and Memories: A Spanish Journey, and The Factory of Light: Tales from my Andalucian Village, to be published in Spanish by Ediciones B in February 2010. Listen now!    

The Festival ended last weekend.

Here you are 4 interesting reviews:

Step-by-step guide to dance: Eva Yerbabuena
By injecting traditional moves with bold theatrical flair, this Spanish dancer and choreographer brings flamenco thrillingly up to date.
Sanjoy Roy 

guardian.co.uk

Flamenco’s humane roots
Forget the Hollywood image – flamenco has deep-rooted social and political resonances that cross culture and genre
Mike Marqusee 

guardian.co.uk

Sadler’s Wells seventh annual Flamenco Festival
David Dougill

timesonline.co.uk

¡Viva la evolución!
The show begins with a haunting, wailing song that could easily be mistaken for the muezzin’s call to prayer as the Nuevo Ballet Español pays homage to the mysterious origins of flamenco in Moorish… Spain.

LondonSpanish.wordpress.com

Very interesting blog about flamenco:
http://fromthesolesofthefeet.wordpress.com/

More about flamenco

To celebrate International Book Day on 23 April, the UK Instituto Cervantes centres, in collaboration with the Education Office of the Spanish Embassy in the UK, and with the support of Banco Santander, is holding its first Short Story Competition.  This theme for this year is: ‘El Quijote de tu vida’. 

Rules:

1. Applicants must be students of Spanish as a second language, of any nationality, who are studying in the UK and want to put their imagination to the test. Each candidate is allowed to submit only one short story. 

2. Each short story, written in Spanish, must not exceed the 500-word limit (approximately 20-25 lines, in Times New Roman font, at 12pt.). It must be original and unpublished and not have been previously awarded in any other contest or competition. 

3. The theme of the short story must answer and correspond with the question ‘Who in your life reminds you of Quijote?’ It must therefore be inspired by, for example, a family member or a friend who, in the author’s opinion, is most like the character created by Miguel de Cervantes. 

4. There are two competition categories: 

            a) 7-11 year olds 

            b) 12-19 year olds 

5. Those in the first category are permitted to write their short story in Spanish or English. Those in the second category, however, must present their story in Spanish only. 

6. All entries must be sent by email to biblon(at)cervantes.es with the subject line ‘Concurso de Mini-Relatos’. In the email, applicants are required to provide their name and surname, full postal address, telephone number and the name of their school and Spanish Language teacher. The short story should be sent as an attachment. 

7. All short stories must be received by 9 April 2010. 

8. The winners will be announced on 23 April at an award ceremony which will take place at the Instituto Cervantes centre in London, as part of the International Book Day celebrations. 

9. The judging panel will be chaired by the Director of the Instituto Cervantes and made up of other members of staff from the Instituto Cervantes in London, Manchester and Leeds, and the Education Office of the Spanish Embassy in the UK. The panel will choose a winner from both categories. Prize-winners will be awarded for their expression, creativity and originality and also their overall response to the question posed. 

10.  Prize winners of both categories will be awarded the following: 

–          First Prize: courtesy of Banco Santander – a cheque to the value of £500 for the library of the winning school and a voucher for £200 for the winning author. In both cases, the prize money must be used for buying books or other resources related to the Spanish speaking world and Spanish language learning. 

–          Second Prize: a selection of books, CDs and DVDs of well-known Spanish and Latin American authors and artists. 

11. All participants are welcome to attend the award ceremony, accompanied by the family member or friend who inspired their short story. The Education Office of the Spanish Embassy in the UK will cover the travel expenses of the prize-winner and their guest (one per prize-winner), should they be travelling from outside of London. 

The winning short stories will be read out to the audience by their authors. 

We look forward to receiving your short story!   

22 February 2010

Subsidies for promoting the translation and publication in foreign languages of literary or scientific works written and published in Spanish

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS 2010.

Deadline for applications :  31th March 2010 

Application Forms: Provided by the body in charge of the call for applications and available from the website www.mcu.es  path to follow: Área de Actividades/ Libro, lectura y letras/ Becas, Ayudas y Subvenciones/ Ayudas 2009 

List of documents: Applications should be accompanied by the following documents:  (INCLUDING TRANSLATION INTO SPANISH WHERE INDICATED)

Administrative Documents:

1 Document providing proof of status as publisher, in accordance with the requirements of the legislation in force in the country of the publisher making the application (company registration, deeds of incorporation, etc.)  (SUMMARY TRANSLATED INTO SPANISH).

2 Document providing proof of status as signing representative (power of attorney from notary or accreditation of signature)

3 Appendix II (signed and filled in).

4 Appendix III (signed and filled in).

5 Appendix IV (signed and filled in). Only for applicants belonging to EU members states. 

6 Photocopy of the entity’s fiscal identification card. Applicants that do not have fiscal domicile in Spanish territory must present a certificate of fiscal domicile issued by the competent authorities in the country of domicile.  

Specific Documents:

7 Catalogue with list of published titles.

8 Copy of contract signed by publisher and translator. The contract must state the total amount payable for carrying out the translation (SUMMARY TRANSLATED INTO SPANISH)

9 C.V. s of translator/s           (IN SPANISH)

10 A sample of the original work being translated. In  the case of Anthologies, a full list of their contents.  Photocopies of books shall not be accepted.

11 Documentation providing proof of conformity for the copyright holder (in accordance with Intellectual Property Act RDL 1/1996, of 12^th April).

12 Applicants that carry out their activities in Spain must provide documentary proof of their distribution capacity in the linguistic area for which the subsidy is being requested.

Subsidy amount: The maximum amount shall be equivalent to the cost of the translation.

Definitive decision proposal: Once the Assessment Committee has studied the applications submitted, the definitive decision proposal shall be formulated and notified to the entities proposed as beneficiaries, along with the subsidy acceptance form in order that they may notify their acceptance within 15 calendar days. If acceptance is not received, the potential beneficiary of the subsidy shall be understood to have relinquished same. 

Payment of subsidies granted: The subsidies shall be paid after the decision to grant same has been published in the Official State Gazette.

Justification of subsidy received by the Publisher:

1.- The Publisher has a period of 3 years counting from the date of publication in the Official Spanish State Gazette of the Resolution on the granting of same, in which to publish the work. For justified reasons, the publisher is entitled to extend this deadline by one more year.

2.– Within the two months following publication, the following shall be sent to the Vice-Directorate General for Promoting Spanish Books, Reading and Letters:   

• 5   copies of the published work, which must clearly state the following  on the credits page of the book:  

           >  TITLE  of the work and AUTHOR in Spanish.

           >  Name of translator/s.

           >  Logo of the Spanish Government, Ministry of Culture and the following sentence in the language in which the work has been published:

“This work has been published with a subsidy from the Directorate General of Books, Archives and Libraries of the Spanish Ministry of Culture ”

• Document proving  that the publisher has paid the translator the cost  of the translation with the relevant receipt (This receipt of payment to the translator must be send along with the 5 copies of the published work or before publication, never afterwards).

More information and application forms

13 Feb 2010 – 27 Feb 2010

The crème de la crème of Spain’s flamenco talent are performing during Sadler’s Wells’ very special two week Flamenco Festival.

From Rafaela Carrasco’s bold, contemporary flamenco style to Maria Pagés’ emotional rollercoaster of a show and the maestros of flamenco, Rojas and Rodriguez, with their sublime company Nuevo Ballet Español , famed for their heart-racing sequences, this is a unique chance to sample some authentic Spanish flamenco in London.

Read more and book tickets

Sir John Carr (1772–1832) was a travel writer born in London on 6 December 1772. A short biography is available at the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography

Our copy of Descriptive travels in the southern and eastern parts of Spain and the Balearic Isles in the year 1809 was published in London in 1811.
 
 Descriptive travels … includes some interesting engravings of the city of Granada (frontispiece), Cádiz from the sea (pp. 112-113), Valencia from the river Segura (pp. 254-255), Ermita de Santa Anna in Montserrat (pp. 316-317), La Granja d’Esporles (pp. 356-357) and Port de Maó (pp. 368-369)

 
 Appendix III contains a table with details about the different coins used in Spain, the “Spanish Money” (maravedíes, reales, sols y diners) and its exchange rates.

Sir John Carr visited Spain during the Peninsular War, providing the book with important episodes.

The last chapter is entirely dedicated to the island of Menorca which had been under British sovereignty during the last hundred years (with the exception of the brief period of French occupation).

Carr arrives in Cádiz and travels around Andalusia. There are references to the Central Commission and to the Second Siege of Saragossa. After visiting Granada, Carr travels to Murcia, Valencia and Cataluña, and finally ends his journey in Palma.

Amongst the contents dealt with in the book, we can find odd references such as “Waiters, Spanish, How called”, “Women, Spanish, their devotional coquetry”, or “Galejos, or porters from Galicia, their honesty”, etc.

Although Sir John Carr met Lord Byron in Cádiz, there are no references in this index about this meeting.

USEFUL LINKS

About the Author (in Spanish):

http://www.dipalme.org/Servicios/Anexos/anexosiea.nsf/VAnexos/IEA-LVA09/$File/LVA09.pdf (pages 6 to 7)

About the book:

Cristina Torres-Fontes Suárez. Viajes de extranjeros por el reino de Murcia. T. 1
Asamblea Regional Real Academia Alfonso X el Sabio 
1996  ISBN84-88996-05-5 
http://www.cervantesvirtual.com/servlet/SirveObras/01604529214583901890035/023652_0038.pdf 

There is an extract in Spanish about the «Reino de Murcia»
 http://www.cervantesvirtual.com/servlet/SirveObras/04700624244616662232268/023653_0054.pdf

28-31 January 2010, Cartagena de Indias. Colombia

Welcome to our fifth festival in Cartagena de Indias, a meeting place where you can enjoy stories and ideas from many diverse cultures and from four continents. We are honoured to host writers and artists who reinvent the world. Their imaginations help us all to see life in a different way. To meet them in one of the most magical cities in the world is a real pleasure. Here, we have stories of love and death, of adventure and philosophy; here also are parties for talking and quiet places to think.

Read more…