By Kyle Dilts
In June of 1898, Federico García Lorca was born to a farm owner and his wife. He was born at, and lived most of his childhood at, Fuente Vaqueros. He later moved to Granada in %ADa_Lorca
In 1918, he published his first book. It was called Impresiones y Paisajes ( Impressions and Landscapes). This is the first of many books that he will write. 3%ADa_Lorca
In 1919, García Lorca moved to Madrid. He writes most of his poems here. He stays in Madrid for the next fifteen years.
A major moment in his career was in 1922 when he attended the Fiesta de Canta Jondo. He found many inspirations for his music from folk traditions and gypsy music. He wrote many things on this inspiration, notable the Poema del Cante Jondo (Deep Song 1931) and Primer Romancero Gitano (the Gypsy Ballads ).
When García visted the Untied States he stayed mostly in New York City. He studied briefly at the Columbia University School of General Studies. During his time in the United States, he wrote Poeta en Nueva York. He also wrote the play El Público (The Replublic). This play wasn’t released until %ADa_Lorca
In 1931, García Lorca returned to Spain after a trip to America. His company consisted mostly of students, that went around giving free performances of Spanish classics. The company also produced three “rural tragedies”, such as Blood Wedding (1933), Yerma (1934), and The House of Bernarda Alb. Bermara Alb was supposed to be part of a trilogy, but the trilogy was never finished. nation.com/moonstruck/clsc67.html
In 1935, Lorca wrote Lament for the Death of a Bullfighter (1935). This was his last major poem before his death. It is also considered his best by most critics.
In July of 1936, only three days after García left Madrid, the Spanish Civil War broke out. He was going to go to Granada, a city widely known to be very conservative. His brother-in- law, Manuel Fernández-Montesinos, was the socialist mayor of Granada. He was shot on the eighteenth of August, and García was arrested a few hours afterward. He was killed by Nationalist militia the next day.