Episode 144: A remarkable poem-novel from Uruguay

It is personal, it is political, it is poetic and it is a portent of a book. One of the very few novels written in free verse in Spanish language. Juan Ángel's Birthday by Mario Benedetti was writen in Havana in 1970 in a accesible and playful joycean style, the plot takes place in only one day. Its reading is both a joy and a revelation. This is a three part conversation with its translator into English, Adam Feinstein; Sophie Stevens, lecturer in Latin American and Caribbean Studies at the University of London and Juan Toledo, Editor of Revista Perro Negro. This recording was made in front of a live audience at the Cervantes Institute in London to celebrate the launch of a beautiful bilingual version published by Tenement Press in a first-time English language edition. If you are inerested in purchasing the book, click here