The Bernardo Atxaga Chair 2014 program will kick off next week in New York

The teachers of the UPV / EHU Nerea Arruti and Mari Jose Olaziregiwill be in charge of teaching this year´s academic program of the Bernardo Atxaga Chair at the City University of New York (CUNY). The course, designed at the Cultural Studies` proposal, will be entitled “De la desmemoria al pasado omnipresente en la narrativa vasca actual” ("From oblivion to omnipresent past in the current Basque narrative"), aims to analyze the role that the remembrance of the past has played in the Basque literature over the past four decades. From the literary creations of the 80s, that recalled a mythical past, to proposals where our conflictive politic past shows a growing prominence, the program will analyze the development and transformation of the Basque literature from the 60s to the present day, and will study several works and authors from every era.

The main objective of this chair, created by the Etxepare Basque Institute in 2011, is to promote the research and study on Basque language and literature. It offers an academic doctoral program on Basque culture, inviting renowned guest professors to New York annually. The academic program is complemented by a cultural program of open access. This year, in collaboration with the Mikel Laboa UPV / EHU Chair, two concerts will be held at The Graduate Center (CUNY), on Fifth Avenue in New York. On one hand, the Basque songwriter Ruper Ordorika and the American guitarist Ben Monder, who has worked with Ordorika several times, will perform a concert together (October 6, Martin Segal Theatre, 6 pm). On the other hand, the Basque pianist and researcher Josu Okiñena will offer a conference-concert (October 10, Skylight Room, 6pm), aimed to approach to the work of the Basque composer, folklorist and researcher Aita Donostia (1886 -1956):  Okiñena will first offer an informative talk about the work of Aita Donostia, also interpreting his compositions; he will later offer different works by composers Anjel Illarramendi, Ramón Paus, Erik Satie and Manuel de Falla.

The teachers of the UPV / EHU Nerea Arruti and Mari Jose Olaziregi will be in charge of teaching this year´s academic program of the Bernardo Atxaga Chair at the City University of New York (CUNY). The course, designed at the Cultural Studies` proposal, will be entitled “De la desmemoria al pasado omnipresente en la narrativa vasca actual” ("From oblivion to omnipresent past in the current Basque narrative"), aims to analyze the role that the remembrance of the past has played in the Basque literature over the past four decades. From the literary creations of the 80s, that recalled a mythical past, to proposals where our conflictive politic past shows a growing prominence, the program will analyze the development and transformation of the Basque literature from the 60s to the present day, and will study several works and authors from every era.

The main objective of this chair, created by the Etxepare Basque Institute in 2011, is to promote the research and study on Basque language and literature. It offers an academic doctoral program on Basque culture, inviting renowned guest professors to New York annually. The academic program is complemented by a cultural program of open access. This year, in collaboration with the Mikel Laboa UPV / EHU Chair, two concerts will be held at The Graduate Center (CUNY), on Fifth Avenue in New York. On one hand, the Basque songwriter Ruper Ordorika and the American guitarist Ben Monder, who has worked with Ordorika several times, will perform a concert together (October 6, Martin Segal Theatre, 6 pm). On the other hand, the Basque pianist and researcher Josu Okiñena will offer a conference-concert (October 10, Skylight Room, 6pm), aimed to approach to the work of the Basque composer, folklorist and researcher Aita Donostia (1886 -1956):  Okiñena will first offer an informative talk about the work of Aita Donostia, also interpreting his compositions; he will later offer different works by composers Anjel Illarramendi, Ramón Paus, Erik Satie and Manuel de Falla.

BERNARDO ATXAGA CHAIR 2014

City University of New York / The Graduate Center

Professors:
Nerea Arruti

She studied Basque Philology at the University of Deusto, and completed her doctoral thesis about the literature from Argentina at the King´s College of London. She has been living in the UK since 1989, where she has taught  Hispanic literature at the University of Exeter and the Goldsmiths Colloge of London; at present she works at the University of Aberdeen. She was a researcher at the University of Reno in the Summer of 2001. Her researching interests have focused on topics such as the contemporary literature or art. For instance, she has published articles about the Guggenheim Museum, and in terms of the theory, about studies of the memory: Trauma, Therapy and Representation,  in the magazine  Paragraph from Edinburgh.

Mari Jose Olaziregi

She has a PhD in Basque Philology and is a professor at the University of the Basque Country (Faculty of Arts, Vitoria-Gasteiz). She has been assistant professor at the University of Nevada, USA, and visiting professor at the Universität Konstanz, Germany. Olaziregi is a corresponding member of Euskaltzaindia-The Royal Academy of the Basque Language, director of the web portal on Basque literature, www.basqueliterature.com,  director of the ‘Basque Literature Series’ collection in Basque literature (University of Nevada), and since 2011 she also coordinates the  Red de Investigadores sobre la Memoria Histórica en las Literaturas Ibéricas ("Network of Researchers on Historical Memory in the Iberian Literatures”). Since 2010, she is the Director for the Promotion and Dissemination of the Basque Language of the Etxepare Basque Institute. Her numerous publications include ‘Euskal eleberriaren historia’ (History of the Novel in Basque), ‘An Anthology of Basque Short Stories’ (2004), ‘Waking the Hedgehog: The Literary Universe of Bernardo Atxaga’ (2005) and ‘Six Basque Poets’ (2007).

Musicians:

Ruper Ordorika   www.ruperordorika.com

Ben Monder        www.benmonder.com             

Josu Okiñena       www.josuokiñena.com