Azerbaijani poetry will be available for Columbians

/By Azernews/

By Laman Ismayilova

The Translation Centre operating under the Azerbaijani Cabinet of Ministers has welcomed Colombian Chargé d’Affaires to Azerbaijan, Martha Galindo for a roundtable discussion on the presentation of novel ‘In the Beginning Was the Sea’ by Tomas Gonzalez, Azertac reported.

Director of Translation Centre Afag Masud, addressing the event, pointed to a strong interest among Azerbaijani readers in Latin American literature, especially works by Gabriel Garcia Márquez.

She further underlined the artistic treasures of the poems included in the novel ‘In the Beginning Was the Sea’ by Gonzalez.

In the Beginning Was the Sea is not a usual first novel. For one thing, it was published by a nightclub (where its author worked as a barman). The year was 1983. Since then, González, born in 1950, has published six other novels.

Based on a true story, In the Beginning Was the Sea is a dramatic and ironic account of the disastrous encounter of intellectual struggle with reality - a satire of hippyism, ecological fantasies, and of the very idea that man can control fate. The young intellectuals J. and Elena leave behind their comfortable lives, the parties and the money in Medellín to settle down on a remote island. Their plan is to lead the Good Life, self-sufficient and close to nature. But from the very start, each day brings small defeats and imperceptible dramas, which gradually turn paradise into hell, as their surroundings inexorably claim back every inch of the 'civilization' they brought with them.

The Colombian diplomat, for her part, hailed the fact that Márquez’s novel "The Autumn of the Patriarch", had been translated and published by the Translation Centre back in the 1990s, adding that "all Spanish speaking countries should get to know Azerbaijani literature better."

The sides also discussed the issue of translating and publishing Azerbaijani poetry into Spanish in Columbia. In the first stage, the poems will undergo literal translations, with further fiction translations to be done by Spanish speaking poets. Also, works by both Azerbaijani and Columbian novelists will be affected by a joint project.

The diplomatic relations between Colombia and Azerbaijan were established in September 1994. The relations between the two countries successfully develop in various areas, including energy, agriculture, tourism, and engineering.