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Poethical Evening with Badia Kashgari
From October 18, 2012 until October 24, 2012
On the event of the translation into Spanish of some poems by the Saudi writer Badía Kashgari and its recent publishing on the magazine Hesperia. Culturas del Mediterráneo, Casa Árabe organized a poetry meeting on October Wednesday 24th, where some pieces were read.
The writer read in Arabic her poems while the Spanish actress Mónica Dorta read the translations into Spanish. Milagros Nuin Monreal, Arabic translator of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, professor of Arabic Language and Literature at the Complutense University and translator of the pieces, attended the event to present Badia Kashgari work.
The evening event took place at 19.30 in the exhibition halls of Casa Árabe in Madrid (c/ Alcalá, 62), and there was free entrance, limited by space availability.
Badia Kashgari
She was born in a transition period (during the 1950s) in the Saudi city of Taif, where she spent her early years. She studied English Philology at the King Abdul Aziz University, located in Jeddah. After graduating, in 1977, she attended several English and Translations courses in the United States, Great Britain and Spain.
In 1989 she engaged the directive board of the magazine Al-Qáfila, the most ancient of her country, owned by the petrol company Aramco. She was the first female writer who got to such a post. Badía Kashgari has lived during a period where her homeland society has undergone through radical and fast changes and she has combined her studies, work and writer occupations with several trips al most all over the world, and it has deeply influenced her writing.
She lived for seven years in Canada, where after 09/11, she opened a literary saloon in Ottawa, where Arab men of letters and friends of her gathered once a month to carry out poetry reading and recited sessions. On those events, there was always a simultaneous interpreting of those literary texts from Arabic into English, so the writer became used to the experience of publishing bilingual texts. Out of it, the idea of editing The Unattainable Lotus bloomed. Recently she moved back to Saudi Arabia, she has attended mix sessions at the Al-Wa’d al-Zaqafi Club, in Dammam, a forum directed by the men of letters Husayn Yaffal, Fádil Umrán and Muhammad al-Fawz.
Her work includes several collections of poems: the first was in 1995, Cuando florece la arena (Ida azhara al-Raml)[When Sand Blooms], (Beirut, 1995); El viaje del espíritu y del tiempo (Masrà al-ruh wa-l-zaman) [Spirit and Time travel] (Beirut, 1997); The Unattainable Lotus (London, 2001), Alguno de mis ritos (Shay’ min tuqusi) [Some of my Rituals] (Beirut, 2001); A la orilla de nuestra sangre (Alà shati’ min dimaina) [On our blood’s shore], (Cairo, 2004); No estás solo, país mío (Lasta wahidan ya watani) [You are not Alone, Country of Mine], (Beirut, 2009); and Ascesis de mujer (Manásik Unza) (Beirut, 2012). Her work have been studied in Saudi Arabia and read in Canadian universities. It has been translated into English, German, Danish and Spanish.
Mónica Dorta
She is an actress, singer and voice teacher. She was born on the Canary Islands, but she lives in Madrid. She studied theatre and lyrical and modern singing in Tenerife, London and Madrid and has worked in different theatre projects such as "El Proyecto Laramie" [Larmie Project] at the Teatro Español in Madrid, in tv-shows such as "Crematorio", or in musicals such as "The Beggar’s Opera". She has also been voice and sing teacher in schools such as Estudio Corazza para el Actor and has also collaborated with actor’s masters such as Consuelo Trujillo. Nowadays, she is taking part in projects where she is the jazz vocalist.
The evening event took place at 19.30 in the exhibition halls of Casa Árabe in Madrid (c/ Alcalá, 62), and there was free entrance, limited by space availability.
Badia Kashgari
She was born in a transition period (during the 1950s) in the Saudi city of Taif, where she spent her early years. She studied English Philology at the King Abdul Aziz University, located in Jeddah. After graduating, in 1977, she attended several English and Translations courses in the United States, Great Britain and Spain.
In 1989 she engaged the directive board of the magazine Al-Qáfila, the most ancient of her country, owned by the petrol company Aramco. She was the first female writer who got to such a post. Badía Kashgari has lived during a period where her homeland society has undergone through radical and fast changes and she has combined her studies, work and writer occupations with several trips al most all over the world, and it has deeply influenced her writing.
She lived for seven years in Canada, where after 09/11, she opened a literary saloon in Ottawa, where Arab men of letters and friends of her gathered once a month to carry out poetry reading and recited sessions. On those events, there was always a simultaneous interpreting of those literary texts from Arabic into English, so the writer became used to the experience of publishing bilingual texts. Out of it, the idea of editing The Unattainable Lotus bloomed. Recently she moved back to Saudi Arabia, she has attended mix sessions at the Al-Wa’d al-Zaqafi Club, in Dammam, a forum directed by the men of letters Husayn Yaffal, Fádil Umrán and Muhammad al-Fawz.
Her work includes several collections of poems: the first was in 1995, Cuando florece la arena (Ida azhara al-Raml)[When Sand Blooms], (Beirut, 1995); El viaje del espíritu y del tiempo (Masrà al-ruh wa-l-zaman) [Spirit and Time travel] (Beirut, 1997); The Unattainable Lotus (London, 2001), Alguno de mis ritos (Shay’ min tuqusi) [Some of my Rituals] (Beirut, 2001); A la orilla de nuestra sangre (Alà shati’ min dimaina) [On our blood’s shore], (Cairo, 2004); No estás solo, país mío (Lasta wahidan ya watani) [You are not Alone, Country of Mine], (Beirut, 2009); and Ascesis de mujer (Manásik Unza) (Beirut, 2012). Her work have been studied in Saudi Arabia and read in Canadian universities. It has been translated into English, German, Danish and Spanish.
Mónica DortaShe is an actress, singer and voice teacher. She was born on the Canary Islands, but she lives in Madrid. She studied theatre and lyrical and modern singing in Tenerife, London and Madrid and has worked in different theatre projects such as "El Proyecto Laramie" [Larmie Project] at the Teatro Español in Madrid, in tv-shows such as "Crematorio", or in musicals such as "The Beggar’s Opera". She has also been voice and sing teacher in schools such as Estudio Corazza para el Actor and has also collaborated with actor’s masters such as Consuelo Trujillo. Nowadays, she is taking part in projects where she is the jazz vocalist.
