Submitted by the Friday Harbor Film Festival.

On Friday, Jan. 31, at Brickworks from 7-8:30 p.m., immerse yourself in an evening where the power of music and the beauty of poetry converge. The Friday Harbor Film Festival invites you to experience “Twelve Songs for Twelve Poets,” a unique creative project celebrating the timeless connection between verse and melody. Admission is free (donations appreciated)! Thank you to Suzy and Jay Wakefield for sponsoring this special event.

This captivating 75-minute performance highlights 12 poems by renowned Spanish-language poets, translated into English and brought to life through the artistry of Anthony Geist, a Spanish professor at the University of Washington, and Paco Díez, a Spanish musician and philologist. Poems are recited in English, then sung in their original language, blending cultures and eras into an intimate and moving experience. Featured in the repertoire are poets from Spain and Latin America, as well as U.S. Hispanics and a Sephardic poet who writes in Ladino.

Music is deeply embedded in the DNA of poetry. From the epic poems of Classical Antiquity and the Middle Ages to Cuban repentismo and Puerto Rican décimas, from traditional balladry to contemporary singer-songwriters, over the centuries poetry has been transmitted orally through music.

“Twelve Songs for Twelve Poets” offers the audience an intimate and moving insight into these great poets:

– Luis García Montero (Spain), Antonio Machado (Spain), Rafael Alberti (Spain).

– Luis Hernández (Peru), Raquel Lanseros (Spain), Vanessa Torres (Colombia/California).

– Mar Sancho (Spain), Federico García Lorca (Spain), Ada Limón (California).

– Fernando Valverde (Spain), Rosario Castellanos (Mexico), Rita Gabbai-Simantov (Greece).

Discover the rich oral tradition of poetry set to music, spanning centuries and continents, from the epic poems of antiquity to the heartfelt verses of contemporary voices. Don’t miss this evening of inspiration, connection and cultural celebration.

Brickworks Event Center is located in Friday Harbor at 150 Nichols Street.

Be sure to check out the upcoming Best of the Fest events on the Friday Harbor Film Festival website: www.fhff.org. The next free documentary event will be a shorts block: “Managed to Extinction,” “Range Rider” and “Facing the Falls” showing on Feb. 28 at the SJI Grange. Thank you to the Journal of the San Juan Islands for sponsoring Best of the Fest.