Jane Duran, born , is a

Spanish-American Spanish Americans (, ''hispanoestadounidenses'', or ''hispanonorteamericanos'') are Americans whose Spaniards, ancestry originates wholly or partly from Spain. They are the longest-established European Americans, European American group in t ...

poet, born in Cuba whilst her father was working as a diplomat in the country.

Background

Duran was born in Cuba to an American mother and a Spanish father, Gustavo Durán, who had fought with the Republican army in the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

. He fled Spain after

Franco Franco may refer to: Name * Franco (name) * Francisco Franco (1892–1975), Spanish general and dictator of Spain from 1939 to 1975 * Franco Luambo (1938–1989), Congolese musician, the "Grand Maître" * Franco of Cologne (mid to late 13th cent ...

's victory but would never talk about his experiences. The themes of silences, loss and exile haunt much of her work. Duran was brought up in the United States and

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

, moving to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in 1966 after graduating from

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

. She now lives in London with her Algerian husband and their son. She has published four collections – ''Breathe Now, Breathe'' (1995), ''Silences from the Spanish Civil War'' (2002), ''Coastal'' (2006) and ''Graceline'', all published by

Enitharmon Press Enitharmon Press is an independent British publishing house specialising in artists' books, poetry, limited editions and original prints. The name of the press comes from the poetry of William Blake: Enitharmon was a character who represented s ...

. ''Breathe Now, Breathe'' won the

Forward Poetry Prize The Forward Prizes for Poetry are major British awards for poetry, presented annually at a public ceremony in London. They were founded in 1992 by William Sieghart with the aim of celebrating excellence in poetry and increasing its audience. The ...

for Best First Collection and in 2005 Duran received a

Cholmondeley Award The Cholmondeley Awards ( ) are annual awards for poetry given by the Society of Authors in the United Kingdom. Awards honour distinguished poets, from a fund endowed by the Dowager Marchioness of Cholmondeley in 1966. Since 1991 the award has bee ...

. In collaboration with Gloria García Lorca she translated two poetry collections of Spanish poet

Federico García Lorca Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca (5 June 1898 – 19 August 1936) was a Spanish poet, playwright, and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblematic member of the Generation of '27, a g ...

, ''Gypsy Ballads'' (2011) and ''Sonnets of Dark Love'' - ''The Tamarit Divan'' (2016), both published by Enitharmon Press.

References

External links

* ''Guardian'' review of ''Coastal''.
Profile and poems written and audio
at The

Poetry Archive The Poetry Archive is a free, web-based library formed to hold recordings of English language poets reading their own work. The Archive holds over 20000 poems and keeps the recordings safe and accessible so that current and future visitors can ...

Profile
at

website
Profile and poems
at ''Poetry in Translation'' Cornell University alumni 1944 births Spanish–English translators Living people {{Cuba-poet-stub