Events & Exhibitions

Publication of 'The city of possible unity'

NOVEMBER 2011 - Exact date to be announced .Poetry is alive and well thanks to the Miami- based non-profit publishing organization Editorial Ultramar. La Ciudad de la Unidad Posible (Miami, 2009), will be translated to English and will be launched as a new book at the Miami Book Fair International in November 2011. "The City of Possible Unity: A Miami Poetry Collection" is a diverse collection of South Florida Spanish- language poetry, translated to English for the first time. The title of the book is inspired by a phrase from "Espacio", a poem in prose by Juan Ramón Jiménez, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature. With this phrase, Jiménez described the Miami of the 1940s.

The original collection was the result of a contest among South Florida poets from various Hispanic origins. Nearly 100 poets submitted five poems each, and a jury of literary critics and experts selected 32 poets and 107 poems for inclusion in the book. Award-winning Spanish novelist Carlos Rojas wrote the preface, in which he analyzes the poems and the poets in the book, pointing out that they, like Dante Allighieri, are influenced by their separation from their country of origin but, unlike other writers, do not say one word of hate against those responsible for their exile. As critic Willliam Navarrete has pointed out, there is a sense of loss, absence, of questions without answer, when the poets face the city in which destiny has placed them. But the pain also results in the humor or irony reflected in some of the poems.

Editorial Ultramar published the book in Spanish, with funding from ArtesMiami President Aida Levitan, Ph.D. and the benefactor of the publication Victoria London, Honorary Consul of Romania. The English-language version is funded by ArtesMiami, thanks to the donations of Dr. Levitan, the Knight Foundation and the Aetna Foundation. The poets will each read one poem from the book at the Book Fair presentation.

The Florida Center for the Literary Arts of Miami Dade College designed the cover of both books and contributed to the artwork of the first book. Books & Books has also contributed to the publication of "La Ciudad de la Unidad Posible" and is expected to continue their support for "The City of Possible Unity".

To buy the book when it is printed and to attend the presentation of the "THE CITY OF POSSIBLE UNITY" at the Miami Book Fair International and other presentations by the poets, please write us at info@artesmiami.org.