CV

Last updated: 06/11/2026  ·  ★ = award or nomination

Awards and grants ↑ top

2025
Nomination, Wandering Houses, Bloomsday Film Festival, Dublin
2023
Honourable Mention, The Exhibition, FilmArte Festival, Berlin–Madrid
2023
Top Ten Finalists, Frozen Cry, JÁ Festival, Oporto
2022
Third Prize, Mom Asks Me to Write Her a Poem About the Sky (poem by Christine Jones), Filmetry Festival, Michigan
2022–23
Our Little Roses Poetry Fellowship, San Pedro Sula, Honduras
2022
Honourable Mention (Collaborations), Frozen Cry, Cadence Video Poetry Festival, Seattle
2020
Best Poetry Film, Noho Mai, 8th Ó Bhéal Poetry-Film Competition, Cork
2020–21
Artist Residency with Lilián Pallares, Childhood, play and public spaces, Matadero Madrid
2019
2018
2018
Winner, Instagram Poetry, National Poetry Library, London
2017
Show earlier awards (2010 and before)
2010
2007
Runner up, Saatchi Showdown, Saatchi Gallery, London
2002–03
Artist in Residence, Wishmore Cross School, Surrey, UK
2001
Arts Council England, light-boxes for stereoscopic photographs
1997
Dartington International Summer School grant, Flamenco guitar with Juan Martin
1995–96
Artist in Residence, Bournewood Health Trust, Surrey, UK

Film ↑ top

Poetry film (director, with Lilián Pallares unless noted)

2026
  • La Familia Espiral* · 4:13 Collaborative film with children from the Espiral Association in the Cerralbo Museum
  • La Cuna Silenciada* · 4:48 Collaborative film with young people at risk of social exclusion in the National Museum of Decorative Arts
  • La Calí* · 4:50 Collaborative film with Spanish Romani women in the Sephardic Museum, Toledo
*Made during poetry film workshops with support from the Spanish Ministry of Culture and State Museums
2025
  • Leer en las gotas de lluvia* (Read in Raindrops) · 10:44Poet: Xisca Minart · Quibdó Africa Film Festival, Colombia
  • Acromegalia* · 2:44Poet: Lara López · Nudo Festival, Barcelona
  • Mantis religiosa* · 6:37Poet: Gabriel Merino
  • El mar en calma* · 2:37Poet: Mia Gill
  • Espantamoscas* · 2:50Poet: Julio Alcalá
  • Casas errantes* (Wandering Houses) ★ Nominated · 9:24 · TrailerPoets: Lilián Pallares and Lauren Mendinueta · Made with support for Contemporary Creation 2024-2025 from Madrid City Council · Cadence, Seattle · Bloomsday, Dublin (nominated, International Poetry Shorts) · MOON, Oeiras · Fotogenia, Mexico City · Migration in Transit, Lima · Encuentro de Literatura Colombiana, Lisbon · Aotearoa Poetry Film Festival, Wellington
*Made with support for Contemporary Creation 2024-2025 from Madrid City Council
2025
Vanitas · 2:00 · Filmetry ArchivePoem: Mary Jo Salter · Director: Charles Olsen · Capital City Film Festival and Filmetry, Michigan
2024
En una casa flota una nube (In a House a Cloud Floats) · 17:30Poems by the girls of Our Little Roses, Honduras · Centroamérica Cuenta, Madrid · MOON, Oeiras
2023
silencio gris (Grey Silence) · 4:06Poet: Gissel Orellana · ZEBRA (ZEBRINO), Berlin · Museum of Anthropology and History, San Pedro Sula · Midwest Video Poetry Festival
2023
A-Dentro (In-Side) · 2:32Poet: Dayana Jiménez · Cadence, Seattle · Maldito Festival, Albacete · Cinemística, Granada
2022
Mom Asks Me to Write Her a Poem About the Sky ★ Third Prize · 3:00 · Filmetry ArchivePoem: Christine Jones · Director: Charles Olsen · Filmetry, Michigan · Nudo, Barcelona
2021
La exposición (The Exhibition) ★ Honourable Mention · 8:24Poet and director: Charles Olsen · FilmArte, Berlin and Madrid · Cinemística, Granada · Fotogenia, Mexico City
2020
Noho Mai (Sit Here) ★ Best Poetry Film, Ó Bhéal · 5:33 · TrailerMade online with Māori women in te reo Māori · Poet: Peta-Maria Tunui
Ó Bhéal, Cork · ZEBRA, Berlin · Māoriland, Ōtaki · Cadence, Seattle · Wairoa Māori Film Festival · Honolulu Museum of Art · Athens Video Poetry Festival · Nudo, Barcelona · Midwest Video Poetry Festival · ZEBRA screening at Matadero Madrid · Cinemística, Granada · Australia and New Zealand Film Festival, London · ReelPoetry, Houston. Featured in Love in the Time of Covid and Gestos de la Poesía, Universidad de los Andes.
2020
Llanto Congelado (Frozen Cry) ★ Honourable Mention, Cadence
★ Top Ten Finalist, JÁ Festival · 5:08 · filmpoetry.orgPoet: Lilián Pallares · Director: Charles Olsen · 9th International Video Poetry Festival, Athens · Bloomsday, Dublin · JÁ Festival, Lisbon · Film + Global Currents, Melbourne · VideoBardo, Mar del Plata · Aotearoa Poetry Film Festival, Wellington · Ojo Fiero, Valencia
Show all earlier poetry films (2012–2020)
2020
Urban Landscape / Paisaje Urbano · 5:12 (poet and director)
2019
2017
2015
2014
2011–13

Documentary

2022
Las Muallaqat para millennials · 15:38Interviews with translators of the Mu’allaqat · ithra Foundation support · Febrero Poético 2023, Madrid
2021
Videopoesía en Portugal y España · 52:00 · Watch · English subtitlesVideoBardo, Argentina · Versopolis, Brave New Literatures · Maldito Festival, Albacete
2011

Animation, short film and other

2020
Ice on the Water (animation) · 2:22
2010
La Danza de los Pinceles (short film) ★ 2nd prize, FFLAC2010 · 8:49 · Trailer
Show videoclips, book trailers, video art and making-of
2008–15
2012–16
Book trailers: Antípodas (2016), El incendio de las horas (2015), A la sombra de un mezquite (2015), Raíces en las brumas (2015), Pájaro, vértigo (2014), Hierba oliendo a carne (2014), Matar al padre (2014), 'Luis Buñuel, novela’ (2013), Más Realidad (2012)
2010
Cuentos de Anderson (video art) · Trailer

Festivals and screenings ↑ top

2026
2025
2025
Cadence Video Poetry, Frye Art Museum and Northwest Film Forum, SeattlePremiere of Casas errantes and Craft Talk with Lilián Pallares
2024
MOON Festival de Videopoesia, OeirasRound table and screening of Noho Mai, A-Dentro, Silencio gris, En una casa flota una nube
2024
Centroamérica Cuenta, MadridScreening of two films made with the girls of Our Little Roses; conversation with Gabriela Lovera
2023
Aotearoa Poetry Film Festival, WellingtonRoundtable “How to Film a Poem”, NZ Poetry Film Retrospective and festival jury, 2–3 November
2022
26th Poetry Festival of Cartagena, Colombia, 1–10 DecemberAlso: La rebeldía del sol at Biblioteca Piloto del Caribe, Barranquilla · Esquina Fest · Fotogenia conversation
2022
2021
  • VideoBardo, Buenos Aires
  • PoeMaRío, Barranquilla
  • Papaioea Festival of the Arts, Palmerston North
Show festivals 2013–2019
2019
Expoesía 12, Soria
2018
Expoesía 11, Soria
2017
Oceania Week, CajaCanarias Foundation, Tenerife
2016
9º PoeMaRío, Barranquilla
2015
3 Orillas, Canary Islands · Poetas cantan a la vida, Madrid · MEDMAD · La Expositiva, Granada
2013–14
Voix Vives, Toledo · Tren de los poetas, Cuenca · PoeMaRío 2013

Workshops and community projects ↑ top

2025–26
Colorado Springs, USA Poetry film workshop with students of Colorado College; and the poetry workshop MigraPoesía with the Latinx community in the Family Success Center
2016–26
Given Words, National Poetry Day, New ZealandOnline poetry competition for residents and citizens of Aotearoa New Zealand, run by Charles Olsen for National Poetry Day; currently editing anthology celebrating 10 years of the project
2025
Spanish State Museums Poetry film workshops with diverse communities in the state museums, Cerralbo Museum, National Museum of Decorative Arts, and Sephardic Museum, with the support of the Spanish Ministry of Culture; creating the films The Espiral Family, The Silenced Cot, and The Calí
2025
Colombian Consulate, MadridWorkshop Mujer: Retrato y Palabras ('Women: Portrait and Words') with women affected by the armed conflict in Colombia
2023
Aotearoa Poetry Film Festival Poetry film workshop with students of Victoria University, Wellington and Auckland University of Technology
2023
Fundación ONCE Poetry film workshop to accompany the foundation's VIII Biennial of Contemporary Art 'Woman and Disability'
2022–23
Our Little Roses Poetry Fellowship, San Pedro Sula, HondurasPoetry and poetry-film workshops with girls at the home; resulting films silencio gris, A-Dentro and En una casa flota una nube
2021
Reina Sofía Museum, MadridPoetic actions and narration, But Tomorrow the Light Will Be for Others, Children’s Programme
2020–21
Matadero Madrid residencyChildhood, play and public spaces – Series of workshops with children; online poetry film workshop with Māori women in Aotearoa New Zealand with the creation of the te reo Māori poetry film Noho Mai
2011–17
Palabras Prestadas, SpainOnline poetry competition for Spanish speakers, run by Charles Olsen with Spanish poets Lilián Pallares Campo and Miguel Ángel Arcas; published six collections of winning poems with Ediciones de la MediaNoche

Curation ↑ top

2026
REELpoetry, Houston Curated screening of poetry films Palabras Prestadas | Given Words based around poetry competitions in Spain and New Zealand presented in-person by Charles Olsen, 20 September
2021
Poesía sin fronteras / Poetry without Borders, Papaioea Festival of the ArtsCurated by Dave Bonta; produced and presented by Charles Olsen · Palmerston North City Library, New Zealand, 19 February

Exhibitions ↑ top

Solo

2026
Manitou Art Center, Colorado, USAExhibition of word and poetry films from the archives of Palabras Prestadas and Given Words
2011
Show earlier solo exhibitions (1999–2007)
2007
La Casa de los Jacintos, Madrid
2005
Retratos, La Plaza de las Artes, Madrid
2001–03
Plimmer Steps Gallery, Wellington · Windsor Street Gallery, Chertsey

Selected group

2025
4 escritores que pintan (4 Writers Who Paint), Espacio Ronda, Madrid
2020–21
Open Studios, Matadero Madrid · 2021 · 2020
2016
Cruces y Convergencias, La Neomudéjar, Madrid
2015
Otras Realidades, Centro Cultural La Vaguada, Madrid
2009
Showdown Exhibition, Saatchi Gallery, London
Show all earlier group exhibitions (1993–2012)
2012
Bosque Interior, Pinto, Madrid
2009
Colores del Maíz, Madrid · Emergent Art, Monzón and Zaragoza · VI Continente, Barcelona · Situaciones Emergentes, Oporto
1993–2003
New Zealand House, London · Beatrice Royal Gallery, Eastleigh · Salon d’automne, Ville du Plessis-Robinson, Paris · The Atrium, Whiteleys, London · Merton Arts Festival, Wimbledon · The Riverhouse Barn, Walton-on-Thames · Millennium Exhibition, Woking · Middlesex University, London

Performance ↑ top

2019–21
Palabra Azul – poesía del aguaWith Lilián Pallares · Expoesía 12, Soria · Black Barcelona Festival · Centro Cultural Buenavista, Madrid · Casa de la Lectura, Segovia
2018
Poesía para despertar, live recital with Lilián Pallares, Huerga & Fierro, Madrid
2017
No hay dos sin tres, Barbara Fritsche Dance Project (video art, photography, soundscape) · Parpadeos, Flamenco Biënnale Netherlands (video art) · Trailer
2014–15
antenablue live audiovisual recitals: La Expositiva, Granada · CITeS, Ávila · Voix Vives, Toledo
2011–12
Agita Flamenco: Venice Art Biennale, New Zealand Pavilion (2011) · Sala Manuel de Falla, SGAE, Madrid (2012) · Excerpt

Publications ↑ top

Books

2022
La rebeldía del sol (Rebellious Sun), Olifante, Colección Antonio Machado · Turnbull LibraryPoems inspired by the Antonio Machado Fellowship, poems from Given Words, and two Machado translations
2016
Antípodas, Huerga & Fierro · Turnbull LibraryPoems in Spanish with the author’s English translations; one poem translated into Māori by Barry Olsen and Ko Te Haeata
2011
Sr Citizen, Amargord · Turnbull LibraryBilingual poems with paintings, drawings and photographs; foreword by Pat White

Selected anthologies and journals

2025
2024
2023
Show anthologies 2010–2021
2019
2018
  • Marcapiel
  • Poetas de Otros Mundos, Olifante
  • Landfall 235
2017
  • Poetry NZ Yearbook 2017, Massey University Press
2015
2013
2012
2010

Articles

2023
2022
La videopoesía se abre paso con nuevas sensibilidades en Colombia, WMagazín · Part 1 · Part 2
2021
2019
2013
  • 'Mangos! Papayas! Melons!', WildTomato Magazine

Translation

2016–18
  • Ilia Galán, In the Wilderness of Signs and All (Albion Beatnik Press, 2017), Spanish to English
  • Lilián Pallares, Sleepwalking City (2016), Spanish to English
2013–20
Poems by Colombian, Spanish and Iraqi poets (Pallares, Machado, Bernal, Arcas, Malia, Sadoun and others) in Neke, Poetry NZ Yearbook, ADELAIDE Literary Magazine, NZ Poetry Shelf, Poesía Abierta
2015–23
English to Spanish with Miguel Ángel Arcas: 20+ New Zealand poets (Serie Barford, Paula Green, Tayi Tibble, Emma Neale, Jack Ross, Hinemoana Baker, Doug Poole, Carolyn McCurdie, Pat White, among others) in Palabras Prestadas, and 18 winning poems from Given Words in Trasdemar

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