Prof. Emerita Gac-Artigas is Guest Speaker at NY Literary Event

Priscilla Gac-Artigas, Ph.D., professor emerita in the Department of World Languages and Cultures, was a guest speaker at an homage to 1945 Nobel Prize winner Chilean poet Gabriela Mistral held at the Instituto Cervantes, NY, on Dec. 10. The event, organized by the Gabriela Mistral Foundation, honored the 100th anniversary of the publication of Mistral's second poetry collection, "Ternura" ("Tenderness"), originally published in 1924 by Editorial Saturnino Calleja (Madrid).

For the occasion, the Gabriela Mistral Foundation, Inc., with the support of the Elqui Valley Foundation and the Estelita Literary Project, published a centennial facsimile edition of the original, edited by Gloria Garafulich-Grabois, Pedro Maino Swinburn, and Pedro Pablo Zegers Blachet. It includes a reference section and a bilingual section featuring a selection of 10 poems in Spanish and English presented side by side. A second version, the cover of which features a painting by renowned Chilean visual artist Daniela Meza Sigala inspired by the poem "Dona primavera," was published exclusively for distribution in schools and libraries in Chile.

Participants of the book releases include Gac-Artigas; Javier Valdivielso Odriozola, executive director of the Instituto Cervantes NY; Gloria Garafulich-Grabois, president of the Gabriela Mistral Foundation; and Jimena Castro Godoy, professor at the Gabriela Mistral University in Santiago, Chile.

Gac-Artigas, who is also a Fulbright scholar and full member of the North American Academy of the Spanish Language (ANLE) and corresponding member of the RAE, contextualized the evolution of the perception of the book after its publication and its relevance in today's world.

"A century after its publication, 'Ternura' (Canciones de niños) / 'Tenderness' (Songs for Children), far from being a 'minor collection' of children's poetry as it was labeled upon its release in 1924, stands as a major work that encapsulates the humanistic, lyrical, pedagogical, and spiritual vision of Gabriela Mistral," Gac-Artigas said. "Its relevance transcends time, making it a classic that illuminates both the past and present highlighting the foundational role that Mistral assigned to education, poetry, and the care of childhood in building a more just, compassionate, and humane society."

For more information on the special centennial edition of "Ternura," Gabriela Mistral's work and biography, and on the mission of the Foundation, visit The Gabriela Mistral Foundation website.