This year marks the 400th anniversary of the publication of one of the most important published works in the history of the world, Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra's novel, "El ingenioso hidalgo don Quixote de la Mancha." The University of New Mexico Department of Spanish and Portuguese hosts Lecturas Quijotescas/Quixotic Readings, a marathon reading of the novel in Spanish and in English.
The event will take place on the UNM campus in Ortega Hall room 335 and in the third floor lounge starting on Saturday, April 16 at noon and finishing, by best estimate on Friday, April 22 at 3:30 p.m.
On Saturday and Sunday, April 16-17, reading will take place from noon until 8 p.m.; and on Monday through Thursday, April 18-21, reading will place from 1 p.m. until 7 p.m., while on Friday, April 22, reading will start at 1 p.m. and finish at around 3:30 p.m.
"Don Quixote" was rated the world's greatest novel by the Norwegian Book Club, as determined by a survey of 100 well-known authors in 54 countries. Asked to rank the top 10 books in history, Cervantes's Quixote came in with more than 50 percent of the votes and was determined to be the most widely read book in the world outside of the Bible.
UNM President Louis Caldera and Joaquín Garrido, director of the Cervantes Institute in Albuquerque, invite the UNM and local community to join in reading aloud a chapter of this novel.
"The reading celebrates not only the monumental achievement of Hispanic culture and humanity, but also encourages the rereading of classic works in general," said Tony Cardenas, professor, Spanish and Portuguese.
In the spirit of inclusiveness, the invitation to read is extended to those who wish to read in English or Spanish. To nominate individuals, send contact information (e-mail address, address, phone, etc.) to quixote@unm.edu. To read in Spanish call, (505) 277-7361, to read in English, call 277-2974.
"In all we need close to 300 participants, so we are really counting on the campus and local community to identify readers for what will be a fitting celebration of this work," Cardenas said.
Readings last between 15 and 30 minutes. Check the Web site for the schedule: www.unm.edu/~quixote.
Other scheduled events include Romances Cantados with Tomás Lozano, Recitador de Romances to take place Monday through Friday, April 18-22 from 12:30 p.m. - 1 p.m., prior to the readings in Ortega Hall 335.
The Alfredo Rodriguez distinguished lecturer, Professor James A. Parr, University of California-Riverside, will present, "Some Recent Soundings in Quijote Criticism," also in Ortega Hall 335, on Friday, April 22 from 4-5 p.m.
On Saturday, April 23 at the National Hispanic Cultural Center, 1701 4th St. S.W., a symposium featuring UNM professor emeritus Alfredo Rodriguez is featured.
For more information, visit http://albuquerque.cervantes.es.
Posted by scarr at March 30, 2005 11:42 AM