News
Introducción a Alejandro Duque Amusco
By Language and Cultural Studies Department Co-Chair Liz Villagomez
The renowned author and poet Alejandro Duque Amusco from Seville, Spain enjoyed a visit with our Parker students. Alejandro has published several anthologies and books, and his most known works are Donde rompe la noche, Renacimiento, Pre-Textos, Sueños en el Fuego and Jardín seco. His work has been recognized and honored in Spain and other parts of the world. In 2017, his poetry received high recognition and earned the award el Premio Internacional de Poesía Alfonso Gatto in Italy.
During his visit, Alejandro had a very informal and casual conversation with the students. He spoke about his childhood and his first encounter with the love for poetry, his devotions and love for writing and how this passion for literature and poetry led him to become a writer. The author shared with the class that at the age of six years old “descubrí la poesía siendo un niño…, la primera obra que leí fue Platero y yo de Juan Ramón Jiménez” (“I discovered poetry when I was a child reading the book Platero y yo by Juan Ramón Jiménez”). When talking about death and its big presence in his poetry, Alejandro said that he does not see it as something chilling, but as a part of life that you learn to live with. He invited the class to “vivir con intensidad, estar agradecido, y lo otro (la muerte) es sólo una cosa más” (“live your life with intensity, be grateful, and the other thing (death) is just an additional thing in your life”). Later during the meeting, the poet gave an important piece of advice to the students and invited them to “encontrar vuestra vocación, vuestra pasión” (“find your calling, your passion”). In preparation for this meeting, students read some of his poems from Sueño en el fuego (Dreams on Fire) and Jardín seco and prepared several questions to ask Alejandro. He spent most of the period taking questions from the students, which allowed them to have a better understanding of who he was as a person and as a writer. His compassionate, thoughtful, engaging and charismatic personality came through during his conversation with the students. This opportunity could not have been possible without the support and connection of Tem Horwitz and Sandra Barreto, parents of 6th grader Daniel Horwitz.
To conclude his day at Parker, Alejandro visited with a 6th grade English class. He generously read and discussed four of his poems, “A Una Joven Atleta,” “Leyendo en la Biblioteca,” “Vicente Aleixandre Visits Las Navas del Marqués in 1965” and “Sueño de Comienzos de Agosto.” For each poem, Mr. Drury read Susan Kimmelman’s English version, after which Alejandro read the original. As he shared his work, the poet talked engagingly about his formative experiences as a writer, his key influences (including his important encounters with Vicente Aleixandre) and the origins of his poems. Sandra Barreto made this exchange possible with her adept translations. From start to finish, Alejandro Duque Amusco was a wonderful presence. Everyone is truly grateful to him for his warmth, his sincerity and his terrific poems.
…A voice
lies sleeping under time, and the youth that was I
heard it,
and made it his own, even unto its clear core.
Yes, I remember the open book on my knees,
the secluded hour, the blackbird
who scattered his song on the pine-woods, it
rained the slow gold of afternoon,
and there, the page suspended, oh shining poetry...
from “Vicente Aleixandre Visits Las Navas del Marqués in 1965”
Francis W. Parker School educates students to think and act with empathy, courage and clarity as responsible citizens and leaders in a diverse democratic society and global community.