Dr. Will Derusha

Education Ph.D., Romance Languages The University of Georgia, June 1995 Dissertation:  «La poesía agónica de José Luis Hidalgo» M.A., Spanish The University of Georgia, August 1990 Thesis:  «Ernesto Cardenal:  poesía y teología de la liberación» B.A., Spanish, summa cum laude Georgia State University, August 1988. one hardworking left-handed illustrator

The University of North Carolina at Greensboro hired me for my expertise in Spanish peninsular poetry and culture of the 20th century. This is a photo of the first poets I studied, three of the greatest writers of the Grupo Poético del 27:  Vicente Aleixandre, Luis Cernuda, and Federico García Lorca. el Grupo del 27 y yo As my record shows, UNCG got even more for their money: I study poetry of all periods in Spain as well as in Latin America, explore the relationship between literary and other texts such as painting and music, and devote time and research to translation.

Some publications “Falling Stars and Liberation Theology.” Forthcoming form Fortress Press. “Ghosts of the Spanish Civil War. ” Forthcoming from Wake Forest. “El sexo y la muerte social en Calle Mayor.”  Letras Hispanas, Vol. 3 No. 1, July 06.  85–97 “Los últimos adioses de Rafael Morales.” Salina 19, Noviembre 05: 143-146. “De poesía en evangelio.”  Utah Foreign Language Review, August 03: 78-92. “Poesía y teología de la liberación.”   Proyecto Ensayo Hispánico:  Teología de la liberación y contexto literario, July 03. Read this on line: http://www.ensayistas.org/critica/liberacion/TL “A mitad del camino / Halfway Down the Road.” International Poetry Review, Greensboro, No. 28.2, Fall 2002: 42-47. “Amor duro.”  República de las Letras (Madrid) No. 71, 01:  5-62.  Official journal of the Asociación de Escritores Españoles.  “Los muertos de José Hierro.”  In José Hierro:  Mi voz en la voz de los otros, Ferrol (Spain):  La Barca de Loto, 2000.  65–78.  “El compromiso del poema en la obra de Ernesto Cardenal.”  Salvation and Sovereignty:  Church and State in the Americas, Baylor University, March 00:  33–39.  “Sharon Olds:  Un arte de la desnudez.”  Quimera, Barcelona, October 99:  45–51.  “No me agarran viva:  Estructuras mentales y el proceso libertador.”  Revista Alpha, Osorno, Chile, No. 14, 1998:  45–59.  “El gran viejo de Rubén Darío.”  Anthropos, Barcelona, January-February 97:  141–145.

Duke University Press has published the second book I wrote with Darío scholar Alberto Acereda. This is the first book-length translation of Darío's 1905 poetic masterpiece to appear in English. The book is bilingual, with translations and critical texts appearing on opposite pages.  In addition to an up-to-date bibliography on Rubén Darío and Hispanic modernismo, the book contains an in-depth introduction to Darío's life and work, an analysis of Cantos de vida y esperanza, and a glossary of historical, classical, and literary allusions found in the poems.

In 2001 Bucknell University Press published the first book I wrote with Darío scholar Alberto Acereda. This was the first book-length translation of Darío's poetry to appear in English in over 30 years. The anthology is bilingual, with translations and critical texts appearing on opposite pages.  In addition to selections from every book of poetry published by the founder of modernismo (as well as a series of uncollected poems), the book contains an in-depth introduction to Darío's life and work and a glossary of historical, classical, and literary allusions found in the poems.

Some Presentations “Poesía, oración y evangelio.” Latin American Studies Association, Montreal, September 07. “Trends in and out of Horror in Spanish film.” Romance Languages Film Symposium, Wake Forest U, October 06. “Translating Poetry: The Example of Rubén Darío in English.” Second International Poetry Conference, UNCG, March 05. “Exiliados de la historia.” Latin American Studies Association, Las Vegas, October 04. “Seducción y muerte social en Calle Mayor.” Romance Languages Film Symposium, Wake Forest, September 04. “Los poemas indios.” Southwest Council of Latin American Studies, San Antonio, March 04. “Laughing in God's Face.” International Conference on Literature and the Visual Arts, Atlanta, October 03. “Cómo repintar a Velázquez: las obras maestras rendidas a la poesía.” International Poetry Symposium: Voices Without Boundaries, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, March 2003. “InterText: Reading images, imagery, and imagination as text.” Twenty-second Annual Conference on Romance Languages and Literatures, University of Cincinnati, May 02. “Ekphrastic approaches in 20th century Spanish poetry.” International Conference on Literature and the Visual Arts, Tulane University, November 01. “Amor duro.”  International Conference in Honor of Manuel Mantero, University of Georgia., March 01.  “Cántico cósmico:  El cosmos americano de Ernesto Cardenal.”  Southwest Council of Latin American Studies, Santa Fe, March 01.  “El Dios de la Gloria (Fuertes).”  International Conference on Humor, Arizona State University, October 99.  “La metapoesía de Rafael Morales.”  Kentucky Conference on Foreign Languages, Lexington, April 99.  “Miguel de Unamuno:  Poesía de la agonía.”  AATSP Conference, Madrid, August 98.