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March 26, 2002 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Marti Hobbes, mhobbes@smith.edu
Atxaga has played a leading role in the modernization of Basque literature and is the first writer in the Basque language to achieve an international reputation. Atxaga frequently translates his own work into Spanish, from which it's been translated into dozens of other languages. Atxaga's collection of short fiction, "Obabakoak," won a number of prizes, including Spain's National Literature Award, and his poetry has been set to music by numerous rock and folk groups. Atxaga has also published more than 20 children's books and has worked as an economist, teacher, bookseller, printer and radio scriptwriter. He lives in Spain. A participant in international writers' festivals the world over-including London, Toronto, Berlin, Prague, and Lahti (Finland)-Atxaga will present a lecture this month at Harvard University on "Poetry, Songs, and Politics in Contemporary Spain in the Fourth Peninsular Languages." Atxaga comes to Smith College as part of the Kahn Liberal Arts Institute's project "Other Europes/Europe's Others," with participation from the department of Spanish & Portuguese. His reading will feature his poetry in English translation as well as in the original Basque. The reading, which is sponsored by the Kahn Liberal Arts Institute and the Poetry Center, is free and open to the public. For more information, call Rene Heavlow in the Kahn Liberal Arts Institute office at 413/585-7584. |