In partnership with the Cultural Office of the Embassy of Spain, Lost City presents a poetry reading in English and Spanish.
Óscar García Sierra, one of the central figures of the Spanish young literature movement, constructs bold, strange, uncomfortable poems from everyday life, touching on mental illness, drugs, and heartbreak. His work appears in the alt-lit journal was born in León, Spain, in 1994. He studied Spanish, Language and Literature at the Universidad Complutense in Madrid, and he published his first book, García Sierra, one of the central figures of the Spanish young literature movement, constructs bold, strange, uncomfortable poems from everyday life, touching on mental illness, drugs, and heartbreak. His work appears in the alt-lit journal New Wave Vomit, the Tumblr Ciudades Esqueleto, Playground and Revista tn, among others. His first novel, Facendera, has brought him broad critical acclaim in Spain. Houston, I’m the Problem, a selection from his first poetry collection topped off with more recent poems, is the first of his books to appear in English translation.
About the author:
Óscar García Sierra is a Spanish poet and novelist born in León in 1994 and currently based in Madrid, known for his work exploring themes of youth, language, and technology. His publications include the poetry collections Dime qué nombre tiene todo esto (2015) and La poesía ha vuelto y yo no tengo la culpa (2016), as well as the novel Facendera (2019), which was a finalist for the Openbank by Vanity Fair Literature Awards in the Best New Author category. One of his poetry collections, Houston, I’m the Problem, has been translated into English. His work has been featured in anthologies across Mexico (Pasarás de moda and Hot babes), Argentina (1000 millones. Poesía en lengua española del siglo XXI), the United States (The Poetic Series and Noon on the Moon), and Spain (Millennials).
Houston, I'm the Problem was translated into English by Carmen Yus Quintero.
Carmen Yus Quintero was born in Huelva, Spain in 1996. She is a Spanish and English teacher and translator. She has a bachelor’s degree in Translation and Interpreting, a MA in Spanish Studies, and a MA in Education. In 2021, some of her translations of Óscar García’s work were published in New Poetry in Translation. Her article “Posibilidades de la virtualidad” was also published the same year in Falso Mutis. Her interests include literary translation, education and performing arts.
Indran Amirthanayagam will join us in conversation and will present the poems in English translation.
Indran Amirthanayagam is a poet, editor, publisher, translator, youtube host and diplomat. He is the author of 28 books and translations. For thirty years he worked for his adoptive country, the United States, on diplomatic assignments in Africa, Asia, Europe and North and South America. Amirthanayagam produced a unique record in 2020 publishing three poetry collections written in three different languages. He writes in English, Spanish, French, Portuguese and Haitian Creole. He has published twenty eight poetry books and translations. In music, he recorded Rankont Dout. He edits the Beltway Poetry Quarterly (www.beltwaypoetry.com); writes https://indranamirthanayagam.blogspot.com; writes a weekly poem for Haiti en Marche and El Acento; has received fellowships from the Foundation for the Contemporary Arts, the New York Foundation for the Arts, The US/Mexico Fund for Culture and the Macdowell Colony. He is the IFLAC Word Poeta Mundial 2022.
Amirthanayagam hosts The Poetry Channel https://youtube.com/user/indranam. New books include Seer, The Runner’s Almanac, and Powèt nan po la (Poet of the Port ) Indran publishes poetry books at Beltway Editions (www.beltwayeditions.com). Amirthanayagam’s first collection in Portuguese Música subterranea just appeared from Editora Kotter in Brazil.
SPAIN arts & culture is a program of the Cultural Office of the Embassy of Spain in Washington, D.C., aimed at promoting Spanish culture and science in the U.S. through meaningful exchanges between institutions and artists, while fostering strong bilateral relations between our two countries. Among its objectives, the program enhances shared knowledge on the cultural and creative industries and facilitates professional opportunities for artists, drawing on our common Hispanic heritage.
Accessibility note: This event is up two flights of stairs and Lost City Books does not have an elevator. Please contact events@lostcitybookstore.com with questions.
Dato de accesibilidad: Este evento toma lugar en el segundo piso y Lost City Books no tiene ascensor. Favor de contactar events@lostcitybookstore.com con cualquiera duda.