The magazine
Zéjel is an art, literature, and thought magazine that aspires to be a model in southern Spain of young creation, especially in the field of poetry. Our texts come from diverse but related fields, such as poetic composition, visual arts, and essays. The translation of foreign poetry, «Disembarkments,» as well as the section «Invited Poet» – including in each issue the work of an experienced poet of a renowned literary career path – constitute the two focal points of interest and innovation of our magazine.
Through the section «Disembarkments» we intend to navigate in search of a good port, returning with the best of foreign contemporary poetry, thus contributing its diffusion to the Spanish-speaking world. All of our translations will be original and unpublished. In «Invited Poet», we make a case for experience. If it’s true that the best anthology is the one that stands the test of time, we are committed to bringing to our readers with total honesty the fruit of a critical and well-crafted poetry that has survived beyond ephemeral poetic trends. In a way, it is all about recovering traditions; in extolling the roots that support young and novice literature; of recognizing ourselves and knowing where we come from. In our third and last section of essays, we invite you to enjoy a carefully selected intellectual legacy, with the aim of awakening minds and enriching the artistic and literary experience.
Above all, we at Zéjel want to share and enjoy with you the act of creating and thinking – thinking actively, with critical opinions, to be able to interact with art, an exercise that is slowly disappearing. It is about trying to bring forth all of the beauty and sublimity of artistic creation, releasing the different experiences and curiosities of our collaborators, with the objective of creating a wider and richer frame of work each time. At Zéjel we believe and we feel what we do. It is a magazine made, directed and consulted by young people, with a deep affection for artistic and universal literary tradition.
Editorial team
Juan Carlos Polo Zambruno
Born on August 11, 1992 in Seville, Spain. He is studying for a Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy from the University of Seville and has been a member of the «Philosophy of Culture» Research Group HUM-153 since 2012. He completed a year of studies in the Università di Bologna (Italy) from 2013 to 2014. Currently he is concluding his undergraduate thesis studies on the implications of technology on modern society and their ethical impact, falling within the framework of STS studies (Science, Technology and Society.)
Since 2011 he has formed a part of the publication Thémata Editorial, where he held several roles until 2012 when he took on the position of e-Services Manager, directing the Department of Quality Control, Accreditations and Bureaucratic Management. At the end of 2012 he took on the role of Secretary of Diffusion and Documentation in Thémata. Revista de Filosofía, a scientific publication run through the University of Seville. After his time abroad in Italy, he served as a Cultural Consultant in the Delegation of Culture and Youth through the Dos Hermanas City Council (Seville,) until 2016. In 2015 he became a manager of the HUM-153 Research Group as well as the National Research Project on «Philosophy in Late Antiquity.»
At the start of 2016 he won a literary prize for a poem which will soon be published in the contest’s anthology. In September of 2016, El Hombre a Caballo, a poetry and thought magazine from the University of Seville, will publish what will be Polo’s first contribution to a poetry magazine.
Narciso Raffo Navarro
Born on August 6, 1992 in Seville, Spain. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Social and Cultural Anthropology from the University of Seville. He was awarded an Erasmus scholarship to study abroad during the 2013-2014 academic year in Sassari, Italy. It was there, in the middle of the Mediterranean, where Absence and Light blended and became inseparable factors in his poetic compositions. He is currently the author of one published book of poetry titled Implosión de la memoria (En Huida 2015). He has also participated in the anthology of young Sevillian poets, La pirotecnia peligrosa (En Huida 2015). Most recently he has collaborated with various literary magazines, such as maremágnum and Estación Poesía.
David Roldán Eugenio
He was born in Seville (1993), and after graduating with a Bachelor’s in Art History from the University of Seville (2011-2015) he moved to Madrid, where he finished a Master’s in Advanced Studies of Contemporary Spanish Art History at the Complutense University. He specialized in the reception of the image of Spain in American art collections in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, as well as the consequences of Spanish stereotypes among merchants, hispanists and the international art market.
Roldán has collaborated on conferences to incentivize reading and events to promote youth creative writing in his home city of Dos Hermanas (Seville.) In June 2016 he published his first poetry book Radiografías with Ediciones En Huida, and he recently collaborated in a few literary magazines such as Estación Poesía and Nayagua (Fundación Centro de Poesía José Hierro). Currently he spends his time writing and submitting his newest novel Aeneas to publishers as well as national and international literary contests. He is a first year graduate student for the Ph.D. in Literature in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at Rutgers University (New Jersey) starting this fall.
Julia Vasta
Born in Framingham, Massachusetts (USA) in 1993. In 2015 she earned a double Bachelor’s of Arts degree in Sociology and Spanish from Cornell University (New York,) where she also received the J. G. White Prize for Excellence in Spanish. She has lived for a year and a half in Seville and Madrid, where she studied Spanish and taught English. Currently she resides in her native state of Massachusetts and recently finished her first literary translation project titled First as a Poet, a Spanish book of poetry. In her free time she enjoys serving as a volunteer web translator for non-profit organizations in Europe and Latin America. She is also interested in the sociological research fields of immigration, law and urbanism. Spanish and Latin American literature are her passions, and she is constantly on the hunt for literary translation projects.
Technical team
Francisco José Jiménez Meana
Head of Audiovisual Communication.
Juan Carlos Polo Zambruno
Web Designer and Technical.