Kiwi Receives International Poetry Award In Spain

New Zealand poet Charles Olsen has received the international Xiii Distinction Poetas De Otros Mundos poetry prize, awarded by the Fondo Poético Internacional in Spain in recognition of the high quality of his poetic oeuvre,” as reported in an article on The Big Idea.

“I’m very, very happy”, he told Radio New Zealand. “To have all your work recognised is fantastic. It’s marvellous.”

When he first moved to Spain in 2003 to study flamenco guitar, the New Zealander didn’t speak any Spanish. Now after living in Spain for 14 years he “writes many of his poems in Spanish and has also translated many Spanish and New Zealand poets”.

“I still write in English sometimes,” he told Radio New Zealand. But “because I’m living with Spanish the whole time it makes sense to write about my experiences here in Spanish.”

Olsen, who moved to Spain, “has published the poetry collections Sr. Citizen, which includes a foreword by New Zealand poet Pat White, and Antípodas. His poems have been included in anthologies in Spain and Colombia as well as Blackmail Press and the latest NZ Poetry Yearbook 2017.”

“He has also taken his poetic vision into different areas such as the performance Agita Flamenco which premiered in the New Zealand pavilion of the Venice Biennale and his poetry films, which have been shown at several international film festivals.

“For the last six years he has run the online poetry project Palabras Prestadas with the participation of poets from throughout the Spanish-speaking world and this year he is running a special edition of Given Words in English for the Phantom Billstickers National Poetry Day which is open to all New Zealanders.”

“His partner, Colombian poet Lilián Pallares, with whom he runs the audiovisual producer antenablue – the observed word, has been awarded at the same time the XIV Distinction Poetas De Otros Mundos.”

To listen to Olsen’s full interview with Radio New Zealand, please click here.

Article Source: The Big Idea, June 24, 2017 and Radio New Zealand