Spanish Poet Paula Melchor makes virtual visit to ISU

This week, students in Idaho State University's master's program in Spanish were treated to a unique opportunity: a virtual visit from Spanish poet Paula Melchor (El Real de la Jara, Seville, 2000). Melchor, whose acclaimed collection Amor y Pan (2022) has gone through six editions and won Editorial Letraversal’s First Prize for Poetry in 2022, engaged in a lively discussion with students from the Gastronomy in Hispanic Literature and Film graduate course. The course, directed by Dr. José Eduardo Villalobos Graillet, focuses on the cultural and literary significance of food in Hispanic contexts.

During the virtual event, Melchor shared insights into her creative process, giving students a first-hand look at how her deeply personal collection came to be. Amor y Pan is a tribute to the rural Andalusia where Melchor grew up and explores themes of memory, the human experience and the deep cultural significance of bread as the 'soul' of Andalusian towns. Students engaged with her reflections on how meals structure the day and are intertwined with emotions, tradition and identity.

A key topic of conversation was the rural-urban migration that has shaped modern Spain, particularly in the southern regions. Melchor spoke about how this shift affects not only individual lives, but also the collective memory of rural communities, the emotional weight of migration from rural to urban spaces in search of better opportunities. Bread, a recurring symbol in her work, serves as a poignant metaphor for this transition - representing both sustenance and the cultural roots that anchor people to their origins.

The visit was an opportunity for the students to engage with a contemporary literary figure and broaden their understanding of the intersections between food, culture and identity in Spanish literature. The exchange offered rich discussions on the emotional resonance of food, not only as a source of nourishment, but also as a reflection of human anxieties and aspirations arising from displacement, time and change.

The interactive session provided a platform for students to analyze and interpret contemporary Spanish poetry through a literary and cultural lens.