Spring Break
Professor Shares 'Ants of Gold'
Mary Sullivan
Issue date: 10/12/06 Section: Focus
Students and faculty from the Modern and Classical Languages Department gathered Wednesday at the Co-op, anxiously awaiting to hear a special poetry from one of their own.
Eduardo Urios-Aparisi, a professor of Modern and Classical Language, spoke to the crowd and read excerpts from his bilingual book of poetry, "Las hormigas de oro" - translated means "Ants of Gold."
Poetry is an art-form that must be spoken, he said, and should convey "whatever is happening at the moment."
In "Las Hormigas de Oro," the poems are published first in Spanish and then in English. During the reading, Urios-Aparisi read the Spanish version of his poem, and relied on collegue Benjamin Liu to articulate the English version.
Urios-Aparisi, a native of Spain, said he found inspiration for his poetry while traveling around the world - especially in Austin,Texas where he once lived.
Austin is the inspiration for the first part of the book, featuring short-prose poems. He said there are two elements to these poems - they express the reality of the Austin scenery and then convey the visual elements.
Urios-Aparisi read eight selections from "Las Hormigas de Oro," including "La mar en cortejo" (The Sea in Mourning), a poem dedicated to his sister.
He said this is "probabally my most successful poem" other than an "R-rated poem," which he would not read.
After reading from his book, Urios-Aparisi presented five new poems inspired by photographs of Manchester, taken by Carmen Wesson. Urios-Aparisi said he is really interested in he world of senses, both visual and verbal, and used her photographs as inspiration for these poems.
Chris Pratt, a 5th-semester Spanish major and former student of Urios-Aparisi, said that he knew his professor liked writing poetry, and had never heard any of it, but really enjoyed the reading.
Erin Mead, a 5th-semester Spanish major, said she is currently in one of Urios-Aparisi's classes, and was walking by the Co-op when she saw that her teacher would be reading selections from his book.
"[It's] nice to see professors and what they do outside of the classroom," she said.
Eduardo Urios-Aparisi, a professor of Modern and Classical Language, spoke to the crowd and read excerpts from his bilingual book of poetry, "Las hormigas de oro" - translated means "Ants of Gold."
Poetry is an art-form that must be spoken, he said, and should convey "whatever is happening at the moment."
In "Las Hormigas de Oro," the poems are published first in Spanish and then in English. During the reading, Urios-Aparisi read the Spanish version of his poem, and relied on collegue Benjamin Liu to articulate the English version.
Urios-Aparisi, a native of Spain, said he found inspiration for his poetry while traveling around the world - especially in Austin,Texas where he once lived.
Austin is the inspiration for the first part of the book, featuring short-prose poems. He said there are two elements to these poems - they express the reality of the Austin scenery and then convey the visual elements.
Urios-Aparisi read eight selections from "Las Hormigas de Oro," including "La mar en cortejo" (The Sea in Mourning), a poem dedicated to his sister.
He said this is "probabally my most successful poem" other than an "R-rated poem," which he would not read.
After reading from his book, Urios-Aparisi presented five new poems inspired by photographs of Manchester, taken by Carmen Wesson. Urios-Aparisi said he is really interested in he world of senses, both visual and verbal, and used her photographs as inspiration for these poems.
Chris Pratt, a 5th-semester Spanish major and former student of Urios-Aparisi, said that he knew his professor liked writing poetry, and had never heard any of it, but really enjoyed the reading.
Erin Mead, a 5th-semester Spanish major, said she is currently in one of Urios-Aparisi's classes, and was walking by the Co-op when she saw that her teacher would be reading selections from his book.
"[It's] nice to see professors and what they do outside of the classroom," she said.
Be the first to comment on this story