euskalkultura.eus

New York, NY, USA. The Etxepare Basque Institute is proud to announce the inauguration the Bernardo Atxaga Chair in Basque Literature and Linguistics.  Part of the Etxepare Institute’s goal is the promotion and diffusion of the Basque language and culture.  Besides the creation of 32 assistantships in universities around the world, it has been instrumental in the creation of university chairs such as the Atxaga chair.  Atxaga himself will be the first incumbent of the chair during the 2011-12 academic year. 

Atxaga has authored a myriad of works and has covered all literary genres.  He was most recently awarded the Mondello Prize (2008), an honor he shares with the authors of the likes of Doris Lessing, José Saramago and J.M. Coetzee. 

The festivities will begin on September 9^th with a talk by Dr. Mari Jose Olaziregi, the institute’s director in this area, and will conclude with a lecture by Bernardo Atxaga himself, in the company of Ms. Blanca Urgell, Minister of Culture of the Basque Government as well as Dr. Louise Lennihan Associate Provost and Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences of the Graduate Center at CUNY.

Friday 9

6:00 p.m. [The Graduate Center, room 9204]
Utopia and Transgression in Bernardo Atxaga’s Literary Universe
«Utopía y transgresión en el universo literario de Bernardo Atxaga»
Lecture by Mari Jose Olaziregi Alustiza (Etxepare Basque Institute) in Spanish.
[Open to the public]

Monday 12 through Friday 16

2:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m. [The Graduate Center, room 9204]
Culture and Political Change in Euskadi
«Cultura y cambio político en Euskadi»
Mini-seminar taught by Bernardo Atxaga in Spanish.
[Only for registered Students or with special permission from the
program’s Executive Officer]

Tuesday 13

6:00 p.m. [The Graduate Center, Martin Segal Theater. First floor]
«Katuak eta paradisua / Los gatos y el paraíso / Cats and paradise»
Poetry Reading by Bernardo Atxaga, Amaia Gabantxo (translator)
and Jabier Muguruza (musician). In Basque, Spanish and English.
[Open to the public]

Friday 16

2:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m. [The Graduate Center, room C197]
Film: «Zeru horiek / Esos cielos / The Lone Woman»
by Aizpea Goenaga, based on Bernardo Atxaga’s novel The Lone Woman (1999). Followed by a colloquium with writer and director in Spanish.
[Open to the public]

Friday 16

6:00 p.m. [The Graduate Center, Skylight Room. Ninth floor. Followed by reception in room 4116]
Official presentation of the Bernardo Atxaga Chair
“Trip to the Center” «Viaje al centro». Lecture by Bernardo Atxaga in Spanish.
With the attendance of Mrs. Blanca Urgell, Basque Minister of Culture, and Dr. Louise Lennihan, Associate Provost and Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences of the Graduate Center.
[Open to the public]