To be between creatures and things

To be between creatures and things implies ordering the world and adopting a sweetly intermediate position within it—inspired by the one Pico della Mirandola assigned to the first man—something achievable only through an extreme choice. Understood this way, poetry is an inalienable part of human dignity, standing against an era so contrary to humanism. It encourages the Virgilian ethics of empathy, compassion, and piety. It allows the word "creature" to envelop being in love. Here, love is made concrete—without distinction—in the body, eroticism, sport, culture, nature, and spirituality. 

Juan Antonio González Iglesias has published ten books of poetry, collected in the volume Entre las criaturas y las cosas. He is the recipient of prestigious awards, including the Premio Castilla y León de las Letras, the Premio de la Crítica, and the Premio Loewe. A contributor to El País, ABC, and El Cultural, he is also the author of the essay Historia alternativa de la felicidad (Alternative history of happiness). He is a Professor at the University of Salamanca. This event is part of the UCC Spanish Golden Age Symposium, organized by the Department of Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies at University College Cork.