Description
Aims of the Chair
The Miguel Delibes Chair was created on February 7, 2003, as part of the "Miguel Delibes International Congress", held in New York, and is dedicated to the study and dissemination of contemporary Spanish literature. The Chair bears the name of the Castilian writer Miguel Delibes in recognition of a work that, loaded with ethical, aesthetic and social values, has achieved a universal projection.
The main objectives of the CMD are
1. To open a forum for study and debate on contemporary Spanish literature.
2. To make known in the United States (and, in general, abroad) the literary creation of current Spanish writers.
3. And to promote projects for the dissemination of Spanish language and literature through new technologies.
In order to achieve these goals, the CMD programs various activities, such as: postgraduate courses on contemporary Spanish literature; cultural activities to promote current literature abroad; publication of the journal Siglo XXI. Spanish Literature and Culture (SJR Q3; FECYT 2021 quality seal), or the publication of various editorial collections: "Ensayos", "Punto de encuentro", etc.
Thus, in addition to research activities, the CMD carries out dissemination and knowledge transfer activities, which involve two added values: internationalization and the use of ICT (as stated in its founding objectives).
Social and economic interest
The CMD has a double dimension:
(a) Center for research on current Spanish literature.
b) Center for the dissemination and promotion of current literature. In this sense, the CMD carries out important social work. In this regard, the following actions can be highlighted:
- Tool on the website (https://catedramdelibes.com/diccionario-deautores/): Dictionary of authors, "which offers more than 400 files on contemporary writers (each file consists of the following sections: biography, works, awards and recognitions, poetics, text, essential bibliography, links and contact address)".
- Subverso.es digital magazine. Island of critical, literary and cultural freedom. ISSN 244-7471. It is a magazine for the diffusion of literary and artistic creation: http://www.subverso.es/
- Conferences, Seminars, Conferences for the dissemination and promotion of current Spanish literature (especially abroad).
In addition to the social role played by the CMD in the field of culture, it has also contributed to economic development, especially through collaboration with publishing companies: of the various collections that the Miguel Delibes Chair has, two of them are noteworthy, published in collaboration with other companies and which are informative editions of current Spanish literary creation.
- The first, "Lecturas españolas contemporáneas", was carried out through an agreement with the prestigious Spanish-German publishing house IberoamericanaVervuert and 7 volumes were published. Its objective is to disseminate contemporary Spanish literature in the United States.
- The second, entitled "Our Cervantes Prizes", is dedicated to the dissemination of the works of Miguel Delibes, Jorge Guillén, José Jiménez Lozano and Francisco Umbral (4 volumes published by the Junta de Castilla y León-University of Valladolid and El Norte de Castilla).
