Saturday Short

Today's Saturday Short is a wonderful film by Dave Bonta, who translated Gabriela Mistral's poem "Riqueza" ("Riches") and shot and edited the video footage. Read about Bonta's creative process here. You'll find the English text, too. The voice is poet Nic Sebastian's. The music is by Chris Kent. 

Riqueza (Riches) - a poem by Gabriela Mistral from Dave Bonta on Vimeo.

You may watch the video on YouTube as well.

Mistral (1889-1957) was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1945. If you are unfamiliar with her work, the Nobel site provides a bibliography, including a list of translations in English. Many think the translations by Langston Hughes, Selected Poems of Gabriela Mistral (Indiana University Press, 1957), are the best. (That edition is no longer in print but might be found through resellers.) A bilingual edition by Randall Couch, titled Madwomen: The 'Locas mujeres' Poems of Gabriela Mistral (University of Chicago Press), was published in 2009 and was awarded the Popescu Prize for poetry translation (UK); it was runner-up for a PEN Award for Poetry in Translation.

Gabriela Mistral Foundation 

Gabriela Mistral at University of Chile

Salas Virtuales (This is a virtual reading room, where you'll find photos, audio, videos, and much more.)