Presentation of the book by Antonio Crespo Massieu, Elegía en Portbou.

Presentation of the book by Antonio Crespo Massieu, Elegía en Portbou.

Presentation of the book by Antonio Crespo Massieu, Elegía en Portbou, Madrid: Bartleby Editores, 2011.

Portbou

12st May 2012, 7 pm at the Centre Cívic Ca l’Herrero (Méndez Núñez, s/n)

The book will be presented by Caridad Oriol (professor of Romance Philology) and Jordi Font Agulló (Director of MUME), with the participation of the author, Antonio Crespo Massieu. 

The event will also be attended by Josep Lluís Salas (Mayor of Portbou) and Elisabet Cortada (Councillor of Culture).

Elegía en Portbou is a long and striking poem written by Antonio Crespo Massieu (Madrid, 1951) which, based on the emblematic figure of the Jewish-German philosopher Walter Benjamin and the symbolic potential of the town of Portbou, recalls fundamental episodes in the history of the second half of the 20th century. Using a torrent of references that flow through dense and dynamic writing, the poet recounts the defeats and hopes that have filled the period from 1939 to the present. The achievement of this poetic inventory, which evokes the wounds that desolated the 20th century, takes shape in the testimony character of the work. An aspect that undoubtedly enables the establishment of a rich dialogue between the personal voice of the poet and the people, related with the historical space and time. Moreover, the structure of this dialogue emerges from the illuminating cuttings that form part of Walter Benjamin’s thought and the invocation of the charming beauty of Portbou bay.

Elegía en Portbou was published in 2011 in the prestigious poetry collection by Bartleby Editores.