University of Massachusetts Amherst-William Douglass Chair: Kirmen Uribe

As part of Etxepare Basque Institute’s international network of Basque Studies chairs, the William A. Douglass Chair in Basque Cultural Studies will welcome writer and poet Kirmen Uribe to the University of Massachusetts Amherst on 28 and 29 October.

The Chair is housed in UMass Amherst’s Program in Spanish and Portuguese, within the Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures, and works in collaboration with Etxepare Basque Institute to promote Basque language, literature and culture, as well as international academic exchange.

Kirmen Uribe at UMass Amherst

Based in New York, Kirmen Uribe is an internationally recognised writer. His work explores themes including migration, exile, identity and memory, and has been translated into more than 25 languages.

28 October: screening of Karmele

4:00 PM · South College E470

Screening of Karmele (2025), directed by Asier Altuna and based on Kirmen Uribe’s novel Elkarrekin esnatzeko ordua (Time to Wake Up Together, 2016).

29 October: session on contemporary writing

2:30 PM · Herter 117

“Writing in the Twenty-First Century: Archive, Form, and Fiction”

During a SPAN 321 class session, Kirmen Uribe will discuss contemporary writing, archives, form and fiction.

29 October: “Basque and Me: Language, Memory, and Literature”

5:00 PM · Herter 301

In this public lecture, Uribe will explore the relationship between the Basque language, memory and literature.

The events are supported by Etxepare Basque Institute, with additional support from several UMass Amherst programmes and departments, and are open to both the university community and the wider public.