Taft Research Seminar on Spanish and Spanish American Poetry

The Taft Research Seminar on Spanish and Spanish American Poetry will conduct detailed studies of poetry in the Spanish speaking world, with participation of distinguished poets and critics from the Americas, faculty and graduate students from University of Cincinnati, Miami University and Eastern Kentucky University. The Seminar will look in detail at the evolutionary development of poetry in the Spanish speaking world, with emphasis on the role poetry has played in society throughout history, its means of distribution, its language and structure, its reach within the general public, its relationship with popular music, and the overall meaning and importance of poetry within the cultural institutions of the Spanish speaking nations. The Seminar will discuss in detail the role of poetry in Spanish in the 20th-century and the future of poetry in the 21st-century.

Participants

Visiting Fellows:

Autumn: Roberto Sosa

Winter: Pedro Lastra

Spring: Mario Valdés

Faculty:

Maria Auxiliadora Alvarez (Miami University)

Don Bogen (University of Cincinnati)

Manuel Cortés (Eastern Kentucky University)

Paula Gandara (Miami University)

Enrique Giordano (University of Cincinnati)

Carlos Gutiérrez (University of Cincinnati)

Raúl Ianes (Miami University)

Marianella Machado (Eastern Kentucky University)

Maria Paz Moreno (University of Cincinnati)

Connie Scarborough (University of Cincinnati)

Armando Romero (University of Cincinnati)

Nicasio Urbina (Director, University of Cincinnati)

José L. Varela-Ibarra (Eastern Kentucky University)

Visiting Fellow's biographies

Roberto Sosa is the most important poet alive in Honduras. He is the author of the following books of poetry:

Caligramas

(1959),

Muros

(1966),

Mar Interior

(1967),

Los Pobres

(1969),

Un mundo para todos dividido

(1971),

Secreto Militar

(1995),

Hasta el sol de hoy. Antología Poética.

(1987),

El llanto de las cosas

(1995),

Máscara Suelta

(1997),

Piano Vacío

(2002),

Sosa para siempre

(2003). His poetry has been translated into several languages, and there are two volumes of his poetry currently in print in English. Several dissertations have been written about his work both in the United States and in Europe. He has written several important essays on poetry such as

Breve estudio sobre la poesía y su creación

(1967),

Prosa armada

(1981), and

Sociedad y Poesía: Los enmantados

(1997). He holds a M.A. in Spanish from University of Cincinnati 1987.

Pedro Lastra is an important Chilean critic and a poet in his own right. He is Professor Emeritus from University of New York, Stony Brooks. He has published many outstanding articles in the field of poetry and poetics: "Poesía y exilio" (2002), "Testimonio de parte" (2000), "Momentos borgeanos" (1999), "Situación de Eduardo Anguita en la poesía chilena" (1994), "Notas sobre la poesía hispanoamericana actual", and many more. Two of his most important book are

Relecturas hispanoamericanas

(1986) and

Conversación con Enrique Lihn

(1980). He edited

Catorce poetas hispanoamericanos de hoy

(1979). Among his books of poetry we can mention

Y éramos mortales

(1969),

Noticias del extranjero

(1998),

Palabras de amor

(2002),

Mario J. Valdes is one of the foremost critics and scholars of our times. He is Professor Emeritus of University of Toronto, founder of the Asociación Canadiense de Estudios Hispánicos, en President of the Modern Languages Association of America 1988-1989. Among his many books we can mention

Death in the Literature of Unamuno

(1964),

The Identity of Literary Texts

(1985)

Phenomenological Hermeneutics and the Study of Literature

(1987),

Approaches to teaching Gabriel García Márquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude

(1990).

World making: The Literary Truth-Claim and the Interpretation of Literary Texts

(1992). He has edited important collections such as

Comparative Literary History as discourse

(1992), and a three-volume

Comparative Literary History of Latin America

, published simultaneously in English (Oxford U. P., 2003), and Spanish (Fondo de Cultura Económica).

Meetings

The Taft Research Seminar will meet every Monday, from 5 to 8 pm, in the Seminar room of the Taft House, Stratford Height, on Clifton Avenue, beginning on Monday, October 3rd.