Tere Irastortza Garmendia

Zaldibia,

Zaldibia (Gipuzkoa), 1961.

She lives in Olaberria (Gipuzkoa). She studied Basque and Hispanic Philology. After that she became interested in literature, semantics and ideology relating to women. For many years she worked at an centre linked to the UNED (Open University) in Bergara (Gipuzkoa) and she is currently the Headmistress of the Ikastola or Basque-medium school of Beasain (Gipuzkoa). She has been the Chairwoman of the EIE Basque Writers' Association (2002-2006).

In addition to the books she has written, she has participated in the creation of a number of journals and magazines, like Susa, Kandela, Goierritarra and Kalegats. She has written short stories and poems for these publications as well as for Maiatz,Ttu-Ttua, Administrazioa Euskaraz, Egan, Karmel and Hegats, too. She also contributes to the magazine Argia.

She has worked in radio for several years, writing the script for the radio series Musika Klasikoaren Giltzak for five years and contributing for a year to the Sormenari leiho programme broadcast on Euskadi Irratia (the radio station of the Basque Autonomous Community).

Some of her works translated into Catalan, Spanish, French and English. She has also translated works by her favourite authors, like those of Edmond Jabès and Marina Tsvetaieva from French, and those of Marià Manent from Catalan.

Her book of poems Glosak won the Spanish Critics Award for Poetry in 2004 and was nominated for the National Poetry Award.

Her poems have been included in many collections of poems: In GALEUSCA. Antoloxia poetica. Poesia antologia. Antologia poética: Pamiela, 2004; in Veus paral-leles. Pirineoak-Pirineus, d'una riba a l'altra Metamorphoses, fall 2002, vol. 10, number 2. Barcelona 2004 and in Gazteentzako poesia antologia published by Jon Kortazar in 2005.