Paco Díez & Anthony Geist
"Twelve Songs for Twelve Poets"
Music is deeply imbedded in the DNA of poetry. From the epic poems of Classical Antiquity and the Middle Ages to Cuban repentismo and Puerto Rican décimas, from traditional balladry to contemporary singer-songwriters, over the centuries poetry has been transmitted orally through music.
“Twelve Songs for Twelve Poets” is a unique, creative project, offering twelve poems by Spanish-language poets translated to English and recited by Anthony Geist, professor of Spanish at the University of Washington, set to music and sung in the original by the Spanish musician and philologist Paco Díez.
The poets included in the repertoire are from Spain, Latin America and include US Hispanics and a Sephardic poet who writes in Ladino.
In a presentation that lasts approximately 75 minutes, “Twelve Songs” offers the audience an intimate and moving insight into these great poets.
Poets
Rafael Alberti (Spain)
Rosario Castellanos (Mexico)
Rita Gabbaï-Simantov (Greece)
Federico García Lorca (Spain)
Luis García Montero (Spain)
Luis (Lucho) Hernández (Peru)
Raquel Lanseros (Spain)
Ada Limón (California)
Antonio Machado (Spain)
Mar Sancho (Spain)
Vanessa Torres (Colombia/California)
Fernando Valverde (Spain)
Brechemin Auditorium at the School of Music, 2023, February 1st (University of Washington)
Anthony L. Geist is a professor of Spanish and Comparative Literature at the University of Washington, having taught previously at Princeton, the University of Texas (San Antonio) and Dartmouth College. He did his undergraduate and graduate degrees at the University of California, working summers as a heavy construction carpenter. He has published widely on Spanish and Latin American poetry, with an emphasis on the Generation of 27, the avant-garde and surrealism. He has also worked in visual studies, curating art exhibits and co-directing a documentary film on the Lincoln Brigade. His translation of the Peruvian poet Lucho Hernández was a finalist for the PEN Prize in 2016. In that same year he was knighted in the Order of Isabella the Catholic Queen with the rank of Cruz de Oficial.
Anthony L. Geist es profesor de Literatura Española y Comparada en la Universidad de Washington, habiendo enseñado antes en Princeton University, University of Texas (San Antonio) y Dartmouth College.
Hizo sus títulos de grado y posgrado en la Universidad de California, donde pagó sus estudios trabajando de carpintero de la construcción. Ha publicado ampliamente sobre poesía española y latinoamericana, con énfasis en la Generación del 27, las vanguardias y el surrealismo.
También se ha enfocado en los estudios visuales, organizando exposiciones de arte y co-dirigiendo un documental sobre la Brigada Lincoln. Su traducción de la poesía del peruano Lucho Hernández quedó finalista en los Premios PEN en 2016. En 2016 fue condecorado por el gobierno de España con el rango de Cruz de Oficial de la Orden de Isabel la Católica.