Writer and lecturer Eider Rodriguez will be the guest professor for the Koldo Mitxelena Chair, promoted by Etxepare Euskal Institutua at the University of Chicago. From 14 October to 8 December, she will lead the programme A History of Violence: A Journey through Basque Culture, a series of seminars exploring different ways of representing and narrating violence through literature, film and Basque culture.

The programme will be structured around four main themes: the body as a battleground; language as a battleground; the Basque conflict and the cinematic and literary stereotypes generated around it; and the limits of language when referring to certain aspects of Basque reality, as well as the use of allegories, metaphors and symbols to overcome these difficulties of representation.

Eider Rodriguez

Eider Rodriguez (1977) is a writer and lecturer at the University of the Basque Country (EHU). She studied Advertising and Film and holds a PhD in Literature. She has also worked as an editor and screenwriter.

Her main literary works include Eta handik gutxira gaur (Y poco después ahora), Haragia (Carne), Katu jendea (Un montón de gatos), Bihotz handiegia (Un corazón demasiado grande), Eraikuntzarako materiala (Material de construcción) and Dena zulo bera zen (Era todo el mismo hueco). Her work also spans literary criticism, comics and translation.

Koldo Mitxelena Chair

Created in 2012, the Koldo Mitxelena Chair aims to expand Basque Studies within the North American academic sphere. Based in the Division of the Humanities at the University of Chicago, it hosts a distinguished visiting professor each year, who delivers courses, seminars and lectures in the humanities.