For a weekend of all things Spanish make your way to York’s Glendon campus for the Festival of Words and Images organized by the Cultural Celebration of the Spanish Language (Celebración Cultural Del Idioma Español/CCIE), which runs Thursday through Sunday.
The four-day program features writers and artists from the Canadian and world Latin community, in what the CCIE describes as “a veritable literary feast spanning languages and cultures.”
Above: pictures from past CCIE festivals
The CCIE is a non-profit organization directed by Professor Magarita Feliciano, coordinator of Spanish-English translation with the Department of Hispanic Studies at Glendon. It was created in 1992 to stimulate and promote mutual appreciation and awareness of artistic contributions made by persons of Latin-Canadian origin and other Canadians of different origins. The organization was formed as part of the commemoration of the 500th anniversary of Europeans’ arrival in the Americas.
Thursday’s activities will feature Françoise Boudreau, acting principal of Glendon, José Luis Chamosa from the office of education, Embassy of Spain, and Esther Raventós, Glendon’s Chair of the Department of Hispanic Studies. The highlight of the evening will be a book launch in honour of award-winning author Pablo Urbanyi, followed by a performance by Argentinian soprano Rosaria Russo.
Friday’s program includes readings of original works by authors Beatriz Funes, Janet Rodríguez, Fabio Cáceres, Lucía Ardila, Marcela Lecuona, Joanna Sworn and Marta K. Shamwasser. Later readings in English and Spanish will feature Toronto Star writer and York alumnus Oakland Ross (BA ’74) and McGill University student Mirta Medina, followed by Urbanyi and Hugh Hazelton, professor of Hispanic studies at Concordia University. At 4:30pm, the CCIE will announce the formation of Carasucia Publishing House, and welcome three consuls-general: Catalina Chaux of Colombia, Carlos Pujalte of Mexico and Laureano Cardoso of Cuba.
The evening includes a buffet dinner with an Hispanic flavour and music by Havana Express with vocalist Rodolfo Serrano and a tango dance show by Roxana y Fabián. Tickets are $30 for CCIE members and $35 for the public. For reservations, call 416-488-2658 or e-mail sariera@hotmail.com.
Saturday’s presentation features readings of original works by special guest: Victor Casaus of the Centro Cultural “Pablo de la Torriente Braus”, Havana, Cuba. Later there will be a discussion on “Roads Towards Artistic Creation” with panellists Christopher Domínguez Michaels (Consulate of Mexico), Casaus, J. Guillermo Renart (University of Ottawa) and Jorge Etcheverry (Split Quotation, Ottawa).
Sunday, festival participants will take a day-trip for an on-site reading at Niagara Falls to celebrate the artistic significance that the Falls hold in Hispanic literary tradition.
For more information, call 416-488-2658 or 416-925-4652. You can also get information by e-mail at feliciano@glendon.yorku.ca or at hola@spanishcentre.com.