New bilingual Poems and Yanito sonnets from Gabriel Moreno

Two cultural events recently saw the launch of Gabriel Moreno ‘s latest poem collection titled Gibraltar, with translations by Rafael Penas Cruz.

The book, sponsored by the Ministry of Culture, was launched on a Friday at BookGem and, the next day, Gabriel and his guests played a concert gig at El Kasbah to reinforce the book launch and give another bilingual airing to his poems, as well as featuring a visiting UK folk/poet artist, Morag Butler, and local writer and poet Jackie Anderson who recited from Gabriel and one of own poems.

The new poetry collection is published by Goat Star Books and its owner Rafael Penas Cruz, who is a well-established UK bilingual writer, translator and publisher, read his beautiful and sensitive translations in tandem with Gabriel Moreno’s readings at both events.

This was Rafael’s second visit to the Rock, at the start of a comprehensive promotional literary tour which kicked off in Cadiz before stopping here for the book launch and then following on with similar events scheduled for Malaga, Seville, Granada, Badajoz and Barcelona, where the tour ends.

“I wanted to portray Gibraltar through its history, literature and art for the benefit of Spanish and English readers who know very little or nothing about it,” he said.

“In my prologue for the book, I wanted to put Gabriel’s work in context with art and language, especially Yanito which comes through in the sonnets.”

“Translation for me comes quite naturally because of my age. I am sixty two and have lived in England for thirty four years and I suppose that because I have a degree in English literature and a masters in Spanish literature, and I read a lot of poetry in both languages, I know well how language works in poetry, so translating Gabriel’s vocabulary did not present many challenges.”

“I made poetry my job, teaching it in university, so for me translating it comes naturally. I can see texts in my mind and superimpose their translation, including code switching almost immediately, and the acquired skills over the years almost make it easy to translate.”

“It’s like an act of possession. You embody the poetry and it’s almost a spiritual union with the poet that allows you to use their language to best effect.”

Rafael spoke about the current tour of Spain, a first for a local poet and also for him as a publisher.

“I feel very excited about this tour because both Gabriel and I are going to be like ambassadors for Gibraltar,” he said.

“The tour goes to Malaga and Cordoba, then onto Seville, Granada, Badajoz, Madrid and Barcelona.”

“I am quite aware that we are almost evangelising about Gibraltar in Spain. Most people will not have a view about Gibraltar and my job is to provide information about its culture in order to dispel the hard views ingrained by years of Franco’s regime.”

“My aim in this tour is to influence poets and people who like poetry. There is also an emerging literature in Yanito which people in Spain do not yet understand.”

Rafael sees himself doing more collaborations with Gabriel in future, after all he has translated Soufi poetry from a Pakistani poet writing in English and he also translated the venerable Keats into Spanish and recently enabled Gabriel to perform at Keats House in London.

He was quick to respond: “Yes of course! Our bilingual advantages almost demand that we continue to explore and learn from each other.”

“I was thinking that we could perhaps do an event with poets of the region, featuring Gibraltar, Algeciras and La Linea poets. It would be the same show in three venues with guest poets from each place. That would be fantastic, would it not?”

When it was almost showtime and Gabriel introduced Rafael to the audience, almost a family of fans who have helped make this venue Gabriel’s spiritual home.

The poet and his translator both read poems from the book, with the Spanish translations by Rafael always receiving warm applause as they truly sound like standalone poems in their own right.

Gabriel then went on to read a powerful poem about his late father Willie in which he compared his own relation with his father to a paternal relation in which by bond of culture and language he might also be a son of England.

The bilingual poetry flowed and was appreciated and roundly applauded and then Gabriel introduced folk artist and friend Morag Butler with whom he performed Leonard Cohen’s Dance Me to the End of Love. That had been his first exposure to Cohen when he had first been introduced to the work of the Canadian hero. There was a Canadian in the audience too and it was noted by a loud cheer when announced.

Morag Butler had just returned from gigs in France supporting The Libertines at Paris Olympia and her sweet voice and plucked folk guitar lent itself to the intimate taverna surroundings of the Kasbar.

In her set she sang Silly old dreams - a Gabriel song which later on they performed together and it left us with a very Cohen-esque snapshot of the evening in which, importantly, he sang a new song that he had written from recovered Cohen lyrics which had been given to him by an artist friend.

It remains to be seen whether the late poet’s family foundation will allow the song I’ve Never Loved Before to be recorded and marketed by Gabriel Moreno. It is already a great privilege to be allowed to put music to a lyric from the legendary Cohen and the (great!) new song is the sum of all Christmases coming together at once for Gabriel.

Bon chance, mon ami. You will need all the luck in the world to release this special song and it deserves to be heard.

The soiree also featured Jackie Anderson, who is a poetical force, first reciting from Gabriel and then one of her own poems about the plight of immigrants. A great weaver of words, Jackie is also a gifted poetry reader with an always polished delivery.

Moreno as ever, delivered a well-chosen repertoire of songs in two sets from his various albums, and also included his latest creation, Warm Overcoat, which is just three weeks old.

This gig was different and welcomed as it was a treat to hear Spanish translations in tandem with English stanzas.

I am sure it will not be the last time we see Rafael Penas Cruz and Gabriel perform together and we wish them the best for this exciting tour of Spain upon which they have embarked - hot on the heels of an expected new dawn and post-treaty excitement, which should attract attention to their gigs.