Federico García Lorca

Federico García Lorca was a prominent 20th-century Spanish poet, playwright, and theater director. He published numerous volumes of poetry during his lifetime, beginning with Impresiones y paisajes (approximately translated “Impressions and Landscapes”) (Paulino Ventura Traveset, 1918), and many were published posthumously. His lyrical work often incorporates elements of Spanish folklore, Andalusian flamenco and Gypsy culture, and cante jondo, or “deep song,” while exploring themes of romantic love and tragedy.

García Lorca was born near Granada in Fuente Vaqueros, Spain. He studied law at the University of Granada before relocating to Madrid in 1919 to focus on writing. In Madrid, he was part of a group of avant-garde artists known as the “Generation of ’27” that included artist Salvador Dalí, filmmaker Luis Buñuel, and poets Juan Ramón Jiménez, Rafael Alberti, Jorge Guillén, and Pedro Salinas. Around this time, García Lorca was introduced to surrealism, a movement that would greatly influence his writing.

With the publication of his poetry collection Romancero gitano (approximately translated “Gypsy Ballads”) (Revista de Occidente, 1928), García Lorca received significant critical and popular attention. The following year, he traveled to New York City, where he found a connection between Spanish cante jondo and African American spirituals he heard in Harlem. García Lorca would later connect the two through his Juego y teoría del duende, a 1933 lecture on the Spanish inspirational force duende that continues to enthrall poets today.

When he returned to Spain in 1930, García Lorca cofounded La Barraca, a traveling theater company that performed both Spanish classics and García Lorca’s original plays, including the well-known Bodas de sangre (approximately translated “Blood Wedding”) (1933), in small town squares. Despite the threat of a growing fascist movement in his country, García Lorca refused to hide his leftist political views or censor what were considered controversial themes, such as gay desire and political revolution, from his work. García Lorca’s homosexuality and political affiliations likely rendered him a target for nationalist forces during the Spanish Civil War.

In August 1936, at the onset of the Spanish Civil War, García Lorca was arrested at his country home in Granada by Francisco Franco’s soldiers. He was executed by a firing squad a few days later, and his body was never found.