Federico García Lorca

Federico García Lorca (1898 - 1936) was a Spanish poet and dramatist, also remembered as a painter, pianist, and composer. He was born on June 5, 1898 in Fuente Vaqueros, in the Granada province of Andalucia, Spain, and attended university in Madrid, where he befriended Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí.

Lorca's somber writing focuses on the themes of love, death, and that conflict between liberalization and tradition. He was murdered by the Nationalists in the Spanish Civil War and thrown into an unmarked grave on August 19, 1936 Viznar[?], near Granada. The Franco regime placed a general ban on his work. Although some aspects of the ban remained in place up until 1971, his reputation as a poet and playwright grew ever since his death, and he is now considered one of the great artists of modern Spain.

Major Works:

Poetry:

• Impresiones y paisajes ("Impressions and Landscapes", 1918)
• Libro de poemas ("Book of Poems", 1921)
• Canciones ("Songs", 1927)
• Primer romancero gitano ("Gypsy Ballads", 1928)
• Poema del cante jondo ("Poem of Deep Song", 1931)
• Primeras canciones ("First Songs", 1936)

Theatre:

• El maleficio de la mariposa ("The Butterfly's Evil Spell": written 1919-20, first production 1920)
• Mariana Pineda (written 1923-25, first production 1927)
• La zapatera prodigiosa ("The Shoemaker's Wonderful Wife": written 1926-30, first production 1930, revised 1933)
• Amor de Don Perlimpín con Belisa en su jardín ("Love of Don Perlimpín with Belisa in the garden": written 1928, first production 1933)
• Bodas de sangre ("Blood Wedding": written 1932, first production 1933)
• Yerma (written 1934, first production 1934)
• Doña Rosita la soltera ("Doña Rosita the Spinster": written 1935, first production 1935)
• Retablillo de Don Cristóbal ("The Puppet-Play of Don Cristóbal": written 1931, first production 1935)
• Los títeres de Cachiporra ("The Billy-Club Puppets": written 1928, first production 1937)
• Así que pasen cinco años ("When Five Years Pass": written 1931, first production 1945)
• La casa de Bernada Alba ("The House of Bernada Alba": written 1936, first production 1945)
• El público ("The Public": written 1930-1936, first production 1972)
• Comedia sin título ("Untitled Play": written 1936, first production 1986)

Playlets:

• El paseo de Buster Keaton ("Buster Keaton goes for a stroll", 1928)
• La doncella, el marinero y el estudiante ("The Maiden, the Sailor and the Student", 1928)
• Quimera ("Dream", 1928)

Filmscripts:

• Viaje a la luna ("Trip to the Moon", 1929)

Quotes

• "In Spain, the dead are more alive than the dead of any other country in the world."

External Links

• Lorca on CyberSpain.com (http://www.cyberspain.com/passion/lorca.htm) with photographs
• Lorca biography on boppin.com (http://boppin.com/lorca/) with photo and translations of some poems