Beatriz Villacañas


Beatriz Villacañas is a poet, essayist and literary critic.

Biography

Beatriz Villacañas was born in Toledo. She obtained her PhD in English Philology at Universidad Complutense de Madrid, where she is professor of English and Irish literature. Daughter of Juan Antonio Villacañas. Corresponding member of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts and History of Toledo. She has lived in the UK where she taught Spanish. She has translated English and Irish poets such as: W. Shakespeare, W.B. Yeats, Seamus Heaney, Michael Hartnett and Brendan Kennelly. Due to family and professional reasons, Ireland has long been her second country. Related to the latter are her numerous articles on Irish literature and Irish authors and her book Literatura Irlandesa, the first complete study on Irish Literature in the Spanish language. She has been invited to An Tobar : Meetings between Irish and Spanish poets and conferences on Irish-Spanish Relations throughout the Ages. She was invited poet to Féile na Bealtaine, International Poetry Festival, Dingle, Ireland, 2007.. Together with the Irish poet and translator Michael Smith she has selected and translated poems by Juan Antonio Villacañas, , Shearsman Books.

Work

Beatriz Villacañas's work comprises books of poetry, short stories, articles and essays. Lyrical reflection and probing into themes such as love, death, life and suffering are characteristic of Beatriz Villacañas' poetry, together with a marked preoccupation about transcendence and spiritual questions: "El tiempo nos esculpe y nos destruye, / la eternidad aguarda y nos rescata." "Tierra, voy a dormir contigo,/ si alguna vez despierto,/ compartiremos juntos/ la inmortalidad" Critics have singled out the liric personality of her poetry as well as her mastery of poetic forms. Some examples: Antonio González-Guerrero wrote of Jazz: "In this world of poetry, where deceit and enmity often abound and where many are called but few chosen, such a personal and melodious voice as that of Beatriz Villacañas is a joy to the ear of the critic." On Dublín, José María Balcells wrote: "The book Dublín was awarded the prize of the I Bienal Internacional de Poesía Eugenio de Nora and this will come as no surprise to its readers since they will find the book a highly original creation both in so far as the rhymical techniques deployed as also in the tone and points of view presented". See also "El ángel y la física de Beatriz Villacañas". Diario Lanza and "Venciendo la gravedad"

Poetic work

Beatriz Villacañas appears in the following:
Poems by Beatriz Villacañas may be found in the following literary journals:
Spain:
Mexico:
Argentina:
EEUU.