A Fistful of Chords: Santiago Festival of International Poetry 2021

HAPPILY, I AM a guess of the Santiago FIP (International Poetry Festival) this year; sadly, due to the difficulties of international travel, I will appear this year only by video.

The festival is a big deal in the Spanish-speaking world, and I am honoured to have some of my poems included, in English and brand new Spanish translations in this year’s event. I appear this year in recital 10, on Saturday 11 December, 15:30 Santiago time (5:30am Sydney time), if you care to catch it live.

I want to thank festival director Javier Llaxacondor (whom I met at a festival in Milua, China, in 2019) for the invitation and Francisco Jimenez Buendia for the guidance. Three of my poems (“Tusk,” “Solstice,” and “Page One”), along with translations by Fernanda Penaloza (a million thanks, Fernanda), appear on the website of Santiago FIP: https://fipsantiago.com/

Noelia Ramon has translated three other poems—”Your Voice,” “Jazz,” and “Dolphin Point”—and she appears, reading those translations, beside my recitals of the English, in a video she made for the festival. In case you can’t get to the recital live on Saturday here’s the video: “A Fistful of Chords and a Lightness of Touch”:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_-j9RkPb5o&list=PLS54dXG33h-Cpbeh0Hk95hbpbka7TRKmy&index=1