Raúl Cisneros (PER) comes from the farming community of Pariamarca in Ayacucho, Peru, where he worked as a farmer, livestock keeper and baker before studying language and literature. He is the first poet ever at Poetry International Festival to write in Quechua, the largest Indigenous language family of the Andes. In his poetry, Cisneros intertwines Mother Earth goddess Pachamama, water, seeds and rituals with memories of migration and life in the city. As co-founder of the collective Estirpe de Ayacucho, he works as an actor, storyteller and musician on community theatre and arts education projects in Quechua and Amazonian communities. His book project Despidiendo Aromas explores the return to mother, birthplace and community against the backdrop of pandemics and ecological crises.

Where you might know this poet from

• Co-author of KAMETSA ASAIKE, winner of the Premio Infoartes 2017, a national prize awarded by the Peruvian Ministry of Culture.
• The first Quechua-writing poet translated/presented by Poetry Translation Centre.