“The Cultural Links between Galicia and Ireland Continue to Flourish Today”: An Interview with the Director of the Irish Centre for Galician Studies (UCC) Martín Veiga

Abstract

Dr. Martín Veiga Alonso is Director of the Irish Centre for Galician Studies and lecturer and co-ordinator of the Higher Diploma in Arts (Spanish) at the Department of Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies at University College Cork. His main areas of research include contemporary Galician and Irish travel writing and poetry, with special focus on the Galician poet Antón Avilés de Taramancos, about whom he has published Escribir na multitude: a obra literaria de Antón Avilés de Taramancos (2014), Antón Avilés de Taramancos (2003), Biografía sonora de Avilés de Taramancos (2009), Cantos caucanos (2003) and the edited volume Raiceiras e vento. A obra poética de Antón Avilés de Taramancos (2003). Veiga is co-editor of Galicia 21: Journal of Contemporary Galician Studies and has recently edited a special issue devoted to the works of the Galician poet and essayist Xavier Queipo (2013). Furthermore, Martín Veiga is also a prolific translator and poet, and his volumes of poetry have received important awards. His collections are Tempo van de porcelana (1990), As últimas ruínas (1994, Espiral Maior Prize), Ollos de ámbar (2005, Esquío Prize) and Fundaxes (2006, Fiz Vergara Vilariño Prize). In this interview, held at University College Cork in July 2015, we discussed the historical vocation of Galician literature to look towards Ireland, as well as the role and activities of the Irish Centre for Galician Studies at UCC and the relevance and future of Galician Studies in Ireland and Europe.