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About The Book: Journey to an Illusory Kingdom draws on surrealism and experimentation — perhaps the terrain where original voices most deeply take root. The machinery of language, ruthless in its precision, is countered by the power of imagination and by a vigorous metaphorical impulse that, once released, opens onto a space of serene depth that invites transformation. In this collection, Ernesto Alcalá constructs a poetic realm shaped by intuition and dream. His work observes human nature with lucid, almost meditative attention and centres on those fundamental qualities that shape our experience in the world. Here, language becomes a vehicle that gestures toward realities it cannot fully contain. The result is a book that uses poetry as an expression of identity and as a site of discovery, transcendence and freedom. A luminous, unsettling and deeply imaginative journey.About The Author: The voice of Ernesto Alcalá (Barcelona, 1971) emerges from a profound engagement with imagination and the inner workings of human nature. He is the author of the poetry collections Geometría de lo imposible (2021) and Insinuaciones del agua (2023). In addition to being a poet, Alcalá is a teacher of Spanish as a foreign language, has written travel literature and, for a decade, led a translation agency — an experience that propelled his fascination with the nuances and hidden possibilities of language. His activity as a musician has shaped his identity and has occupied the greater part of his professional life since the 1990s. Alongside his creative work, Ernesto Alcalá provides psychosocial support in the mental health and wellbeing sector. A naturalised Australian citizen, Ernesto Alcalá has lived in Brisbane since 2011.
Joining Ernesto in conversation is Peter Boyle. Peter is a poet and translator of poetry living and working on Dharug land. He has ten books of poetry published and eight books as a translator of poetry from Spanish and French. His most recent collections are Ideas of Travel and Notes Towards the Dreambook of Endings (2022 and 2021). In 2020 his book Enfolded in the Wings of a Great Darkness won the New South Wales Premier's Award for Poetry. His book Ghostspeaking also received the New South Wales Premier's Award in 2017. He has performed his poetry at International Poetry Festivals in Colombia, France, Venezuela, Macedonia, Canada, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Spain. His poems have been translated into Spanish, French, German, Chinese, Macedonian, Vietnamese, Korean and Russian. In 2013 he was awarded the New South Wales Premier's Award for Literary Translation. He holds a Doctorate in Creative Arts from the University of Western Sydney.
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