Instituto Cervantes in Delhi opens “Charlas Magistrales 2022” with DR poet Mateo Morrison

New Delhi - “Charlas Magistrales”, the yearlong program of dialogues with major poets from Spain and Latin-America, organized by the Instituto Cervantes in New Delhi, started its 2022 edition with the presentation of the Dominican writer Mateo Morrison, in conversation with the Bengali poet Subhro Bandhopaday.

Mateo Morrison is a poet, essayist, and cultural promoter from the Dominican Republic, regarded as one of the main figures of the “post-war” literary generation. Amongst others, he is the author of the collections, Aniversario del dolor (1973), Visiones del transeúnte (1983), Si la casa se llena de sombras (1986), Visiones del amoroso (1991), and Soliloquio desnudo y otros poemas(2007).

In February 2010, he received the Dominican Republic’s National Prize for Literature, the highest distinction granted to living Dominican writers. Furthermore, he was awarded the Pluma de Oro award at the Madrid Book Fair, for his contributions to the dissemination of Dominican culture in Spain. He is an honorary member of The Academy of Sciences of the Dominican Republic and he has received the title of Doctor Honoris Causa in Humanities by the International Writers and Artists Association in Ohio. In addition, for the past decade he has been organizing the Santo Domingo International Festival of Poetry. 

In his introductory remarks, Ambassador Puig highlighted the importance of the series of online events organized for the presentation of Dominican literature to Indian audiences in the past months. These online exchanges have included authors such as Frank Báez, Johan Mijail, Josefina Báez, José Mármol, and Mateo Morrison. “I hope that these conversations will expand into more interest in Dominican writers, translations and publications in India, and visits of authors to India when the situation allows”, he said.