12/01/2009
Vitoria-Gasteiz,
January 12, 2009 - This Thursday, January 15, Fundación
Catedral Santa María will be inaugurating a new edition of the
Encounters with the Cathedral programme. On this occasion, the
conference series, which has been affording an opportunity to enjoy the
presence of world-renowned writers in Vitoria for several years, will
be dedicated to the historical novel. The inaugural conference will be
offered by Salvador Santa Puche, an expert in Sephardic literature.
Once again, Encounters with the Cathedral will be taking up the
historical novel, a literary genre that has been very popular in recent
years. During the coming months, Palacio de Villa Suso in the capital
of Alava will be the meeting point between literature fans and a group
of specialised novelists, featuring Salvador Santa Puche, José Calvo
Poyato and Carmen and Valle Vaquero, among others. Although members of
the Santa María Cathedral’s Founders Circle will have priority seating
until 7:45 p.m., admission to all conferences will be free until
maximum seating capacity has been reached.
This first event will
feature Salvador Santa Puche, an expert in Sephardic Literature and the
Holocaust’s impact on the Judeo-Spanish world. With a degree in
philosophy and the humanities, Santa Puche is a doctor in Hispanic
philosophy and a expert on Sephardic language and literature. He has
published a number of books on the language and the literature of the
Sephardic Jews and the Holocaust’s impact on the Judeo-Spanish world.
He has written two historical books on the Spanish Civil War and the
transition to democracy, as well as more than fifty articles for
scientific and university journals. He has been a guest professor at
several universities in Spain and in Israel, Estonia, Austria and the
United States.
Santa Puche is currently preparing a documentary entitled Women in the
Holocaust as part of an R+D project at the University of Granada, where
he is a researcher. During his participation in Encounters with the
Cathedral, Santa Puche will be responsible for the conference entitled
The contributions of Jewish artisans to Spanish cathedrals. He will be
introduced by Toti Martínez de Lezea, who also writes historical
novels.
The following is the calendar programme for January and February:
January
- January 15: Salvador Santa Puche, who
will give a lecture on The contributions of Jewish artisans to Spanish
cathedrals
- January 22: Carmen and Valle Vaquero -
Garcilaso: his presence in Basque lands
February
- February 12: Jesús Maeso de la Torre -
The historical novel and medieval mysteries
- February 19: José Calvo Poyato - The
historical novel: its origin and evolution
- February 26: José Luis Urrutia -
Anonymous people: history’s true protagonists
All the conferences will take place at 8:00 p.m. at Palacio de Villa
Suso, which has been ceded by the Vitoria-Gasteiz Municipal Council.
Admission will be free until seating capacity has been reached,
although members of Santa María Cathedral’s Founders Circle will have
priority admission until 7:45 p.m..