A few weeks ago the exceptional poet Nathalie Handal contacted me about a project of hers, Poet in Andalucía, which is an interesting reversal of  Federico Garcia Lorca’s Poet in New York. The book is being translated into Spanish, and she asked me to look over a few of the translations and give some feedback. It was a pleasure to do, and now I’m even more excited about the book.

I first met Nathalie Handal in Chile in 2004 during the week-long celebration of Pablo Neruda’s birth. The extraordinary poet Martín Espada introduced us. Though we didn’t have much time then to talk, I’ve since seen her name come up in some of my favorite publications, and read her poetry and translations with interest.

So yes, Poet in Andalucía, of which I’ve seen a few poems, continues her exploration of her mixed ethnic roots. I’ve really liked what I saw of it in manuscript, and just got these great videos of her reading from the forthcoming book.  Check them out, and enjoy!