Federico García Lorca, writer of Yerma, is one of Spain's most celebrated writers. Born in Granada, he travelled a lot in Spain as a young man, and to the US. He was a prominent member of Spain's Generation of '27, who explored futurism, surrealism, and symbolism across many art forms. He was possibly killed by nationalist Franco supporters aged 38, most likely due to his political affiliations.
Here are 7 things you might already know about the man but will want to read again...
- Lorca published his first book, aged 19, called Impresiones y Viajes (Impressions and Travel) was a series of musings on his travels around Spain, celebrating Spanish culture and criticising poverty.
- Lorca took nine years to finish his Bachelors degree, initially planning to become a musician or composer before focusing on writing.
- His first play, (The Butterfly’s Evil Spell) was based on a love between a butterfly and a cockroach.
- He was a friend, collaborator and possible lover of Salvador Dali during the 1920s - Dali designed the stage for the first production of Lorca's Mariana Pineda in Barcelona in 1927.
- Lorca wrote a short [screen]play about silent movie star Buster Keaton El paseo de Buster Keaton (Buster Keaton goes for a stroll) in 1928.
- In August 1936 Lorca was assassinated by supporters of General Franco, one of thousands being killed by nationalists across Spain. His body has never been found.
- Blood Wedding (Bodas de sangre) and Mariana Pineda were the only of Lorca's plays which were published in his lifetime.
References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federico_Garc%C3%ADa_Lorca
http://cw.routledge.com/textbooks/rmcd/9780415362436/lorca.asp#10things
https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Sketches_of_Spain.html?id=QEyvBw…
http://www.enotes.com/topics/federico-garcia-lorca
http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Federico_Garcia_Lorca.aspx