A series of special events, including a February 26 discussion of the newly translated into English book The Initials of the Earth by the late Jesús Díaz, considered to be the quintessential novel of the Cuban Revolution, opens in late January at New York University’s King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center, located at 53 Washington Square South. The events are free and open to the public (photo ID required for admission). For further information, call 212.998.3650 or visit www.nyu.edu/kjc.
On Wednesday, January 31, at 6:15 p.m., the book Alejo Carpentier y la cultura del surrealismo en América Latina by Anke Bierkenmaier, assistant professor in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at Columbia University, will be discussed by the author with NYU’s Gerard Aching and Princeton’s Rubén Gallo. The discussion takes place in Spanish.
On Friday, February 2, at 6:15 p.m., the 30th anniversary of the journal Punto de Contacto (“Point of Contact”) will be celebrated. Founded at NYU in 1976, the journal commemorates its 30th anniversary with a collection of 33 essays and conversations with some of the most exciting critical thinkers of our times, all of whom have contributed to Punto de Contacto over the years. NYU Professor Helene Anderson hosts the celebration.
On Monday, February 5, at 6:15 p.m., a distinguished group of New York-based Spanish-language authors present and discuss Manifiesto Neoyouquino, a manifesto that celebrates the city as a key site of literary production in Spanish. Participants include Carmen Boullosa, Eduardo Lago, Eduardo Mitre, and Sylvia Molloy.
On Monday, February 26, at 6:15 p.m., the book The Initials of the Earth by Jesús Díaz, translated by NYU Professor Kathleen Ross, will be discussed. Ross and Enrique del Risco from the NYU Department of Spanish and Portuguese will participate. This book by the late Cuban writer is considered by many to be the quintessential novel of the Cuban Revolution; it is the first of Díaz’s books to be translated into English.
On Wednesday, March 7, at 6:15 p.m., a roundtable discussion on “Rethinking Spanish Literature as Cultural History” will take place with Georgina Dopico-Black, NYU; Elena Delgado, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Josep-Anton Fernàndez, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Barcelona; and NYU’s Jo Labanyi. This roundtable seeks to stimulate new ways of thinking about Spanish literature of the early modern and modern periods in cultural terms.