‘The stars of Chile for you (Las estrellas de Chile para ti)’: Transreading 5 Chilean Women Poets
Discover and be inspired by Chilean greats in both English, y en Español.
As readers, we are forever travelling – reaching across borders to step into the lives of others. As poets, too, we learn to inhabit another body, to speak from another’s voice. Even the most personal poems are acts of travel, of translation, because of the inevitable distance between what we live and what we write.
In this course, we’ll travel into the verse of five Chilean poets: Cecilia Casanova, Stella Diaz Varín, Carmen Berenguer, Malú Urriola, and Alejandra del Río. These women span more than 50 years of Chilean history, and their voices are 5 distinct portals for entering their country, and their political, romantic, and artistic worlds.
For each session, we’ll look at a poem or two of each of these poets, and we’ll find a way in. Sometimes, we’ll be looking at real translation issues (most of this work is untranslated into English), digging into the impossibilities (and unexpected possibilities) of language. Sometimes, we’ll examine how the poet herself inhabits another’s voice, as in the case of Carmen Berenguer’s ‘Bobby Sands Faints at the Wall’. But no matter what, each poet’s portal will bring us into our own work.
You do not need to be fluent in Spanish to make the most of this course: you need only an interest in world poetry and a desire to explore the possibilities of language; all poems will be given to students in Spanish and in English. A specific writing prompt, connected to the reading, will also be given for each session.
5 fortnightly sessions over 10 weeks. No live chats. Suitable for UK & International students.
To apply for a concessionary rate, please send relevant documentation showing your eligibility for one of our concessions to [email protected]. Conditions of eligibility are detailed here. If you have any questions or wish to be added to the waiting list of a sold-out course, please email [email protected]. For more information visit our Online Courses page.
Image credit: @phofilmfan
About Rebecca Levi 
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Rebecca Levi is a poet, translator, musician, and educator based in Chile. Originally from New York City, she studied comparative literature at Yale University and poetry with Robert Pinsky at Boston University. Her poems and translations have been published in journals such as Columbia Journal and No Tokens Magazine, by Princeton University Press and Broadstone Books, and in The Times Literary Supplement as a runner-up of the Mick Imlah Poetry Prize. Rebecca composes and performs folk and experimental music, most recently as a part of PSIQUE, a multi-disciplinary project. She has been an educator for sixteen years, with a focus in youth orchestra, early childhood music, and creative writing, and her teaching has taken her around the world, from Peru to Colombia to India. Rebecca teaches in English, Spanish, and Italian.
"I have gained more confidence in myself as a result of the courses I've done: in my poetry and my ability to marry visual art with my poetry too which is very exciting. The courses and tutors are world class."
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