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Presentation of the book of poems “Cuerpo adentro,” by Ana Silva Cuesta

September 14, 20177:00 p.m.
MADRID
Casa Árabe Auditorium (at Calle Alcalá, 62) 7:00 p.m. Free entry until the event’s capacity is reached.
In Spanish.

During the presentation, illustrations by Moroccan artist Firdaous Barkallil will be shown, and poems in Arabic and Spanish will be read with musical accompaniment by Syrian oud player Hames Bitar.

The event will include participation by the author herself, along with Carmen Ruiz Bravo-Villasante, an Arabist and the publisher of CantArabia, as well as Bahira Abdulatif Yasín, the work’s translator.

Cuerpo adentro is the first book of poems by Ana Silva Cuesta and has been translated into Arabic by Iraqi writer and poet Bahira Abdulatif Yasín, with illustrations by an artist from Rabat, Firdaous Barkallil and a foreword by a poet from Tangiers, Rachida Madani.

“The work shows the journey during an inner process lived by the author through the body of a woman conceived as a privileged space for true female revelation.” -Ana Silva

“The body, the heart, what is inside and out, past and present, the charm of Andalusia, the call of Istanbul and Africa, it is a whole poetic journey in which the real and the imaginary, inquisitiveness and lucidity, go hand in hand.” -Rachida Madani
Presentation of the book of poems “Cuerpo adentro,” by Ana Silva Cuesta
Ana Silva Cuesta (author)
Born in Malaga in 1981, Ms. Silva Cuesta has a PhD in Law from the University of Granada, the city where she now lives. She has completed research in the field of law, migrations and gender, and forms part of the Editing Board of the journal for contemporary Andalusian culture SecretOlivo. She has focused her activity on fighting against female genital mutilation, the topic of her doctoral thesis, as well as women’s rights in Islam. She has authored articles in literary and academic journals. Cuerpo adentro is her first book of poems.

Bahira Adulatif Yasín (the book’s translator)
An Iraqi writer and translator born in Baghdad in 1957, she has Spanish nationality. She has been a professor at the Spanish Department of Baghdad University and later at Spanish universities, such as the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Universidad Complutense de Madrid and the University of Salamanca. She has co-authored more than 18 books in Spanish and Arabic, including Lapidación (Stoning), Mujer árabe, islam y sociedad (Arab Women, Islam and Society, 2003), and Conflictos armados, género y comunicación (Armed Conflicts, Gender and Communication, 2015). She has translated works into Arabic by authors such as Rafael Alberti (Best Book Translation of the Year in Iraq), Jorge Luis Borges, José Carlos Mainer and José Antonio Maravall, as well as an Anthology of Peruvian Poetry.

Carmen Ruiz Bravo-Villasante (Arabist)
Born in 1947, Ruiz Bravo-Villasante is a professor, translator and editor. She has been a tenured professor of Modern Arabic Literature and Thought at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. She has translated “books in prose” by poets: Blue Flame, by Gibran Jalil Gibran, Introduction to Arabic Poetry, and Arabic Poetics, by Adonis; Diary of a City Previously Called Beirut, and Republic of Madness, by Nizar Qabbani; Judgment in Nisapur, and My Poetic Experience, by Abdelwahhab al-Bayati. She has also taken part in translations of poems in several anthologies and written articles about Fadwa Tuqan, Gibran, Rihani, Bayati and E. Lahud. She has formed part of the editorial board of Almenara, Asuntos Árabes and Idearabia and has created and maintained CantArabia, an independent publishing firm.

Firdaous Barkallil (illustrator)
Of Moroccan origin, Barkallil was born in Rabat in 1985. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts in Tetouan, having specialized in Graphic Design in 2008. She has experience in both the plastic arts and design. She completed her graduate studies in Artistic Photography at Granada’s School of Arts and Trades. She is currently working on personal projects as an artist. Most notable in her work is her sensitivity and the aesthetic search for the intimate.

Hames Bitar (musician)
A Syrian musician who has resided in Spain since the year 1998, where he has promoted the creation of several Arab music groups, including the Al-ruzafa Ensemble (with music from Al-Andalus), Flamenco a la turca and his trio with soprano Cristina del Barrio and Javier Celada, as well as his usual duos with musicians such as Luis Tabernas, with whom he has delved into grassroots music from the Mediterranean.

Rachida Madani (prologue writer)
A poet, novelist and painter from Tangiers, Madani earned her degree in Literature and has been a high school French teacher. In 2006, she had her first novel published, History Can Wait and later three books of poems: Femme je suis, Tales of a Severed Head and Ce qui aurait pu demeurer silence. She has had the first two collections republished in Blessures au vent. Madani is a regular participant in international poetry festivals.