Gabriel Nuñez Ruiz and Carmina Ruiz García introduced me to Almería and to the landscape that inspired Blood Wedding. During walks through Granada with Bernardo Olmedo, I came to know Lorca’s hometown and to glean a sense of what it was like to live there during the shocking first days of the Spanish Civil War. Carmen and Fermín Guzmán and their extended family taught me to appreciate the subtleties of Andalusian life. On countless occasions, Francisco Padilla Martín and his family—in particular his grandfather, Manuel Padilla Fernández—welcomed me into their home in Valderrubio (formerly Asquerosa) and introduced me to others whose lives were touched by Lorca’s, among them Carmen Perea Ruiz, José Pérez Rodríguez, and Francisco “Frasco” Santalla Sánchez. Without the friendship and fine cooking of the late María Trescastro de Correal, and the affection of her family, I would not have known the true magic of Lorca’s Huerta de San Vicente, nor the “sweet domestic air” that, as Lorca understood, suffuses Granada.
The following archivists and librarians provided invaluable assistance, and I am in their debt: the reference staff at the Houghton Library, Harvard University; Wilma Slaight of the Wellesley College Archives; the staff at the Fundación Juan March in Madrid; staff members at the Hemeroteca Municipal and the Hemeroteca Nacional in Madrid, and at the Hemeroteca Municipal in Barcelona; Juana de Dios of the Hemeroteca Municipal de Granada (Casa de los Tiros); the staff at the Biblioteca Nacional in Madrid; Jennifer Campbell of the Cleveland Public Library; staff members at the Archivo Parroquial in Fuente Vaqueros and the Archivo Parroquial de Nuestra Señora de las Angustias, Granada; staff members at the Archivo del Excmo. Ayuntamiento, Granada, and the Juzgado, Granada; the reference staff at the University of Granada Archives; Anita Solak at the Hispanic Society of America; Laura García Lorca de los Ríos of the Huerta de San Vicente, Granada; and the staff at the Universidad Cumplutense, Madrid. Special thanks go to Antonio Manjón of the Hemeroteca Municipal de Granada (Casa de los Tiros), for lightening my hours at the library by letting me visit his beautiful granadino garden, and to Juan de Loxa of the Casa-Museo Federico García Lorca in Fuente Vaqueros, for his unstinting help and generosity.
I am grateful to those friends and fellow writers who read portions of this book and offered commentary: Sandra and Bill Katz, William Kimbrel, Elizabeth Lloyd-Kimbrel, Ann and Michael Meeropol, and Stephen Oates of the Amherst Biography Group; as well as Donald Lamm, Victoria Wilson, Nicholas Delbanco, John Ware, Jennifer Dix, Diane Moroff, Patricia Simpson, Sylvia Watanabe, Zach Lowe, and Michael McClure. I owe particular thanks to Sandra Katz and Hank Meijer for their insightful criticism of early drafts of the manuscript. Helen Sheehy read the manuscript during the final stages of writing, and with passion, intelligence, and clarity provided advice, encouragement, and inspiration in equal measure. Tom Sheehy was an ongoing source of cheer.
I thank my agent, Carol Mann, and her assistant, Marc Bailer, for their expertise, hard work, and welcome wit. I am indebted to Stu Abraham for his efforts on my behalf, and to Liz Calder and Jonathan Galassi for their enthusiastic support of the book. Through his exacting eye, gentle humor, and steady deadlines, my editor at Bloomsbury, Bill Swainson, did much to strengthen the biography. I am equally grateful to Ethan Nosowsky, my editor at Farrar, Straus and Giroux, for his careful reading of the book and astute observations. Chris Wood in London and Karla Reganold in New York did a superlative job of copyediting.
Finally, and with particular happiness, I thank Steven Whiting, who shared the last leg of this journey with incomparable grace and joy.
Plate Section
In New York, 1929. Beside Lorca is the Mexican heiress María Antonia Rivas Blair, who after meeting Lorca in America described him to a friend as “a strange young man with a somewhat clumsy, ambling walk, as though his legs were too heavy from the knee down…Simple and open in his relations with others. Deep and full of life… He is a child, but a clumsy one, as though his body were about to escape from him, or weighed too much.”
With friends at Madrid fair, 1936. Lorca’s hand touches Rafael Rodríguez Rapún’s forehead.
Abbreviations
The following abbreviations are used throughout:
AFFGL
Archivo de la Fundación Federico García Lorca, Madrid
BFFGL
Boletín de la Fundación Federico García Lorca
C
Federico García Lorca. Conferencias. Ed. Christopher Maurer. 2 vols. Madrid: Alianza, 1984.
EC
—. Epistolario completo. 1 vol. Bk. I (1910-1926) Ed. Christopher Maurer. Bk. II (1927-1936). Ed. Andrew A. Anderson. Madrid: Cátedra, 1997.
FGL
Federico García Lorca
FM
Francisco García Lorca. Federico y su mundo. Ed. Mario Hernández. 3rd ed. Madrid: Alianza, 1981.
G, I
Ian Gibson. Federico García Lorca I. De Fuente Vaqueros a Nueva York, 1898-1919. Barcelona: Grijalbo, 1985.
G, II
—. Federico García Lorca II. De Nueva York a Fuente Grande, 1929-1936. Barcelona: Grijalbo, 1987.
GM
Francisco García Lorca. In the Green Morning: Memories of Federico. Trans. Christopher Maurer. Prologue by Mario Hernández. New York: New Directions, 1986.
OC
Federico García Lorca. Obras completas. Ed. Miguel García-Posada. 4 vols. Barcelona: Galaxia Gutenberg/Círculo de Lectores, 1996.
Bibliography
Works by Federico García Lorca
Alocución al pueblo de Fuentevaqueros
. Facsimile, ed. Ed. Manuel Fernández and Andrés Soria Olmedo. Prologue by Andrés Soria Olmedo. Granada: Edición del Cincuentenario, 1986.
Alocuciones argentinas
. Madrid: Fundación Federico García Lorca, 1985.
A Season in Granada. Uncollected Poetry and Prose
. Trans, and ed. Christopher Maurer. London: Anvil Press Poetry, 1998.
Autógrafos I. Facsímiles de ochenta y siete poemas y tres prosas
. Ed. Rafael Martínez Nadal. Oxford: The Dolphin Book Club, 1975.
Autógrafos II. El Público. Facsímil del manuscrito
. Ed. Rafael Martínez Nadal. Oxford: The Dolphin Book Club, 1976.
Autógrafos III. Facsímil de Así que pasen cinco años
. Ed. Rafael Martínez Nadal. Oxford: The Dolphin Book Club, 1979.
Bodas de sangre
. Ed. Mario Hernández. Madrid: Alianza, 1984.
Canciones
. 1921-1924. Ed. Mario Hernández. Madrid: Alianza, 1982.
Collected Poems
. Ed. Christopher Maurer. Trans. Francisco Aragon, Catherine Brown, Will Kirkland, William Bryant Logan, David K. Loughran, Christopher Maurer, Jerome Rothenberg, Greg Simon, Alan S. Trueblood, Elizabeth Umlas, John K. Walsh, and Steven F. White. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1991.
Conferencias
. Ed. Christopher Maurer. 2 vols. Madrid: Alianza, 1984.
Deep Song and Other Prose
. Ed. and trans. Christopher Maurer. 3rd ed. New York: New Directions, 1980.
Dibujos
. Ed. Mario Hernández. Madrid: Ministerio de Cultura, 1986.
Divan del Tamarit. Llanto por Ignacio Sánchez Mejías. Sonetos
. Ed. Mario Hernández. Madrid: Alianza, 1981.
Doña Rosita la soltera o El lenguaje de las flores. Poema granadino del novecientos dividido en varios jardines con escenas de canto y baile
. Madrid: Centro Dramático Nacional, 1981.
“[Dos cartas a sus padres]. Ateneo de Madrid, 1920; Residencia de Estudiantes,
1921.” Ed. Christopher Maurer.
El País
(Madrid), April 11,1992, Babelia section, 6.
El público
. Ed. María Clementa Millán. Madrid: Cátedra, 1987.
El público y Comedia sin título. Dos obras póstumas
. Ed. Rafael Martínez Nadal and Marie Laffranque. Barcelona: Seix Barral, 1978.
Epistolario
&
nbsp; . Ed. Christopher Maurer. 2 vols. Madrid: Alianza, 1983.
Epistolario completo
. 1 vol. Bk. I (1910-1926). Ed. Christopher Maurer. Bk. II (1927-1936). Ed. Andrew A. Anderson. Madrid: Cátedra, 1997.
Federico García Lorca escribe a su familia desde Nueva York y La Habana
[1929-30]. Ed. Christopher Maurer. Special issue of
Poesía
23-24. Madrid: Ministerio de Cultura, 1986.
Five Plays
. Trans. J. Graham-Luján and R. O’Connell. Introduction by Francisco García Lorca. New York: New Directions, 1961.
How a City Sings from November to November
. Trans. and ed. Christopher Maurer. San Francisco: Cadmus Editions, 1984.
Impresiones y paisajes
. Facsimile ed. Granada: Editorial Don Quijote, 1981.
La casa de Bernarda Alba
. Ed. Mario Hernández. 2nd ed. Madrid: Alianza, 1984.
La zapatera prodigiosa. Fin de fiesta
. Ed. Mario Hernández. Madrid: Alianza, 1982.
“Lecture: A Poet in New York.” Trans. Christopher Maurer. In FGL,
Poet in New York
, 185-201.
Libro de poemas
. Ed. Mario Hernández. Madrid: Alianza, 1984.
Lola la comedianta
. Prologue by Gerardo Diego. Ed. Piero Menarini. Madrid: Alianza, 1981.
Obras completas
. Ed. Miguel García-Posada. 4 vols. Barcelona: Galazia Gutenberg/Círculo de Lectores, 1996.
Oda y burla de Sesostris y Sardanápolo
. Ed. Miguel García-Posada. Ferrol: Sociedad de Cultura Valle-Inclán, 1985.
Poema del cante jondo
. 1921. Ed. Mario Hernández. Madrid: Alianza, 1982.
Poesía inédita de juventud
. Ed. Christian de Paepe. Preface by Marie Laffranque. Madrid: Cátedra, 1994.
Poet in New York
. Trans. Greg Simon and Steven F. White. Ed. Christopher Maurer. Rev. ed. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1998.
Poeta en Nueva York. Tierra y luna
. Ed. Eutimio Martín. Barcelona: Editorial Ariel, 1981.
“The Poet Writes to His Family from New York and Havana.” Trans. Christopher Maurer. In FGL,
Poet in New York
, 204-86.
Primeras canciones. Seis poemas gallegos. Poemas sueltos. Canciones populares
. Ed. Mario Hernández. Madrid: Alianza, 1981.
Prosa inédita de juventud
. Ed. Christopher Maurer. Madrid: Cátedra, 1994.
The Public and Play Without a Title
. Trans. Carlos Bauer. New York: New Directions, 1983.
Retablillo de Don Cristóbal y Doña Rosita. Aleluya popular basada en el viejo y desvergonzado guiñol andaluz
. Unpublished Buenos Aires version, 1934. Ed. Mario Hernández. Granada: Diputación Provincial de Granada, 1992.
Romancero gitano
. Ed. Mario Hernández. Madrid: Alianza, 1981.
The Rural Trilogy: Blood Wedding, Yerma, The House of Bernarda Alba
.
Trans. Michael Dewell and Carmen Zapata. Introduction by Douglas Day. New York: Bantam, 1987.
Selected Letters
. Ed. and trans. David Gershator. New York: New Directions, 1983.
Songs
. Trans. Philip Cummings. With the assistance of Federico García Lorca. Ed. Daniel Eisenberg. Pittsburgh: Duquesne University Press, 1976.
Suites
. Ed. André Belamich. Barcelona: Ariel, 1983.
Teatro inconcluso. Fragmentos y proyectos inacabados
. Ed. Marie Laffranque. Granada: Universidad de Granada, 1987.
Teatro inédito de juventud
. Ed. Andrés Soria Olmedo. Madrid: Cátedra, 1994.
Three Tragedies. Blood Wedding, Yerma, The House of Bernarda Alba
. Trans. James Graham-Luján and Richard L. O’Connell. Introduction by Francisco García Lorca. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1969.
Yerma
. Ed. Mario Hernández. 2nd ed. Madrid: Alianza, 1984.
Other References
Adams, Mildred.
García Lorca: Playwright and Poet
. New York: George Braziller, 1977.
Agustí, Ignacio.
Ganas de hablar
. Barcelona: Planeta, 1974.
Alberti, Rafael.
Federico García Lorca: Poeta y amigo
. Introduction by Luis García Montero. Granada: Biblioteca de la Cultura Andaluza, 1984.
———. “Imagen primera de” In
Federico García Lorca: Poeta y amigo
, 107-33.
———.
La arboleda perdida. Libros Iy II de memorias
. 6th ed. Barcelona: Seix Barral, 1981.
Aleixandre, Vicente. “Federico.”
Hora de España
(Valencia) VII, July 1937, 43-45.
Altolaguirre, Manuel.
Obras completas I. El caballo griego. Crónicas y artículos. Estudios literarios
. Ed. James Valender. Madrid: Ediciones Istmo, 1986.
———. “Recuerdos de Federico García Lorca.”
Previsión y Seguridad
(Monterrey) 1944, 601-6.
Anderson, Andrew A. “García Lorca en Montevideo: Una cronología provisional.”
Bulletin Hispanique
, LXXXVII, 1-2 (January-June 1985), 167-79.
———.
García Lorca: La zapatera prodigiosa
. Critical Guides to Spanish Texts, 53. London: Grant and Cutler, in association with Tamesis Books, 1991.
———.
Lorca’s Late Poetry: A Critical Study
. Liverpool Monographs in Hispanic Studies, 10.
Leeds: Francis Cairns, 1990.
———. “Los primeros pasos de ‘La Barraca’: Una entrevista recuperada, con cronología y comentario.” In
L’Imposible/Posible di Federico García Lorca
. Ed. Laura Dolfi. Naples: Edizioni Scientifiche Italiane, 1989, 177-99.
———. “Some Shakespearean Reminiscences in García Lorca’s Drama.”
Comparative Literature Studies
22, 2 (summer 1985), 187-210.
Aranda, Francisco.
El surrealismo español
. Barcelona: Lumen, 1981.
Arciniegas, Germán. “Federico García Lorca.”
Diario de la Marina
(Havana), April 1, 1930, 16.
Aub, Max.
Conversaciones con Buñuel
. Prologue by Federico Alvarez. Madrid: Aguilar, 1985.
Auclair, Marcelle.
Vida y muerte de García Lorca
. Mexico: Era, 1972.
Bagaría, Luis. “Diálogos de un caricaturista salvaje.”
El Sol
(Madrid), June 10, 1936. Reprinted in OC, III, 634-39.
Belamich, André.
Lorca
. Paris: Gallimard (Collection Idées), 1983.
Benumeya, Gil. “Estampa de García Lorca.”
Gaceta Literaria
(Madrid), January 15, 1931. Reprinted in OC, III, 377-80.
Binding, Paul.
Lorca: The Gay Imagination
. London: GMP Publishers, 1985.
Brenan, Gerald.
The Literature of the Spanish People: From Roman Times to the Present Day
. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1963.
———.
South from Granada
. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1980.
———.
The Spanish Labyrinth: An Account of the Social and Political Background of the Spanish Civil War
. 2nd ed. London: Cambridge University Press, 1969.
Brickell, Herschel. “A Spanish Poet in New York.”
The Virginia Quarterly Review
21 (1945), 386-98.
Buñuel, Luis.
Mi último suspiro. Memorias
. 5
th ed. Barcelona: Plaza y Janés, 1985.
———.
Obra literaria
. Ed. Agustín Sánchez Vidal. Zaragoza: El Heraldo de Aragón, 1982.
Byrd, Suzanne.
García Lorca: “La Barraca” and the Spanish National Theatre
. New York: Abra, 1975.
Cabrolié, Martine.
Enquête sur le milieu socio-économique de la famille de Federico García Lorca
. University thesis. University of Toulouse—Le Mirail, 1975.
Cano, José Luis.
García Lorca. Biografía ilustrada
. Barcelona: Destino, 1962.
Cardoza y Aragón, Luis.
El río. Novelas de caballería
. Mexico: Fondo de Cultura Económica, 1986.
Carr, Raymond.
Modern Spain:
1875-1980. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1980.
———.
Spain:
1808-1975. 2nd ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1990.
Casa Museo de Manuel de Falla
. 2nd ed. Granada: Exmo. Ayuntamiento de Granada, 1984.
Celaya, Gabriel. “Un recuerdo de Federico García Lorca.”
Realidad
, April 1966, 10-15.
Cernuda, Luis. “Federico García Lorca (recuerdo).”
Hora de España
18 (June 1938), 13-20.
Comincioli, Jacques. “En torno a Lorca.”
Cuadernos Hispanoamericanos
139 (July 1961), 37-76.
Couffon, Claude.
A Grenade, sur les pas de García Lorca
. Paris: Seghers, 1962.
Crow, John A.
Federico García Lorca
. Los Angeles: University of California, 1945.
Cummings, Philip. “August in Eden: An Hour of Youth.” In FGL,
Songs
, 125-66.
Dalí, Ana María.
Salvador Dalí. Visto por su hermana
. Barcelona: Juventud, 1949.
Dalí, Salvador.
Diario de un genio
. Ed. Robert Descharnes. Barcelona: Tusquets, 1983.
———.
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