Ben Bollig publishes two books

Ben Bollig, Catz Fellow and Professor of Spanish American Literature, has released two books in recent weeks.

Ben’s research focuses on contemporary literature and film in Latin America, with a particular emphasis on Argentinian poetry. His latest releases reflect these interests.

The titles, Moving Verses: Poetry on Screen in Argentine Cinema and Music for Unknown Journeys by Cristian Aliaga: New and Selected Prose Poems: Travels in Europe, Africa and the Americas were published following long-running research projects undertaken by Ben.

Moving Verses examines the relationships between poetry and cinema in Argentina, a little-studied area of academic interest. Ben’s approach used recent works to assess the ways in which directors project poetry on the silver screen.

Music for Unknown Journeys brings together a collection of prose poetry from Argentinian poet Christian Aliaga. Aliaga’s ‘Travelling Sketches’, penned during his travels across Patagonia and, latterly, Europe, have been translated by Ben – and many have never before been seen in English.

In addition to his translations, Ben also introduces the collection and the author, summarising the literary and political context of the work.

Speaking of these two new works, Ben said: ‘I’m really pleased to see these books in print. They are both the fruit of long-running research projects. Although they have different focusses, both are interested in poetry’s place and significance in the modern world.

‘I hope readers will enjoy discovering Aliaga’s poetry and also the films of Narcisa Hirsch, Gustavo Fontán, and many others.’

About Professor Ben Bollig

Ben Bollig is Professor of Spanish American Literature, and Fellow and Tutor at St Catherine’s. He teaches all areas of Spanish language and literature, specialising in Latin American literature and film, and Argentinian poetry. He has written a number of other books on these subjects and is an editor of the Journal of Latin American Cultural Studies.