University of Liverpool: Manuel Irujo Chair 2022

On 23rd February, the Annual Manuel Irujo Lecture in Basque Studies at the University of Liverpool will feature a symposium entitled ‘Without Exile Who Am I? Martin Ugalde (1921-2004): A Synechdoque of Basque Exile(s)’. The event will be led by Dr Larraitz Ariznabarreta, from the University of Nevada, Reno (USA).

Basque writer, journalist and political activist Martín Ugalde (1921-2004) was exiled to Venezuela as a young man. There he became a reputed journalist and short-story writer. Twenty-five years later he returned to the Basque Country. When the Basque language newspaper Euskaldunon Egunkaria was founded in 1990, Ugalde was head of the board of directors.

Larraitz Ariznabarreta has devoted much of her efforts to charting a cultural cartography of Basque nationalist exile(s) (1936-1970) through the discursive study of synecdochic authors. Her doctoral thesis, ´Martín Ugalde (1921-2004)´ analysed the journalistic and literary work of the exiled Basque writer.

Launched in 2015, the Manuel Irujo Chair is dedicated to the study of Basque exile. The programme features an annual lecture, the result of a partnership between the Etxepare Basque Institute and the University of Liverpool.