Culture Ministry Launches First Bilingual Poetry Anthology

Culture Ministry Launches First Bilingual Poetry Anthology
Santo Domingo, Dominicana Republic  10/25/2011

As part of the III International Poetry Festival Santo Domingo 2011, the Ministry of Culture launched the first ever bilingual (Spanish-Italian) poetry anthology called “Cantos del aire” (Songs of the Air) edited and translated by journalist Emanuel Bettini.

The event began with an introduction by Basilio Belliard who stressed the quality of the poetry selection and invited those interested in Dominican poetry to read it.

The event began with an introduction by Basilio Belliard who stressed the quality of the poetry selection and invited those interested in Dominican poetry to read it.

“Cantos del aire” is an anthology in Spanish and Italian, edited and translated by Bettini. It contains the poems of 22 Dominican writers including: Víctor Villegas, Jeannette Miller, Soledad Álvarez, Plinio Chahín, José Mármol and Tony Raful, among others.

With this first anthology, Bettini seeks to show that the Dominican Republic is more than sun and beaches but also has a great deal of culture.  He hopes that the book shows this aspect of the DR among Italian readers. He thanked the Ministry of Culture and the Dominican government for the attention and support they gave to this project.


Book cover of “Cantos del aire” poetry anthology.

Emanuel Bettini.

Basilio Belliard, Emanuel Bettini, José Mármol and Plinio Chahín.