Marcela Raggio - A Dimension of Life and Experience: On the Poetry of Thomas Merton and His Latin American Poetic Network

Marcela Raggio teaches American and British Literature at Cuyo National University in Mendoza, Argentina. She is a researcher at the Argentine National Council for Research (CONICET)  where she has specialized in Comparative Literature, Poetry and Literary Translation. She serves as head of the English Literature M.A. program at UNCuyo, and as international advisor to the ITMS. She has published articles and books about poetic translation, among them "Thomas Merton, the Translator Monk." Since 2018, she has organized the Argentine Thomas Merton Conference in her hometown, aiming at sharing Merton's legacy internationally. In 2023 she was the recipient of the "Louie" award for an individual who has made a significant contribution on an international level to the promotion of Merton's writings (in English or in translation) and to the presentation of his ideas. In a letter to Margaret Randall, written in 1963, Thomas Merton stated that "in Latin America the voice of the poet has significance because it has something to do with life". He added that his own poetry was an expression of "a dimension of life and experience", just as that of his fellow Latin American writers. Why did Merton feel so close to Latin American poets? What aspects of life and experience did he reflect upon in his own literary writing? Can we say that poetry is still today, in a context marked by division, prejudice and fear of others, a way to bridge differences through attentive, respectful dialogue? This presentation aims at pondering over these issues considering the way in which Thomas Merton himself interacted with the world through poetry. The schedule of upcoming episodes and links to past episodes can be found at: merton.org/TWM.