Project Description

Isabel Ros Lopez

Isabel Ros Lopez

Isabel del Rio is a British-Spanish writer and linguist. She was born in Madrid and has lived most of her life in London. She has a five-year degree from Madrid University and a PhD in Creative Writing from the University of West London (UWL); she is also a Fellow of the Institute of Translation & Interpreting (ITI) and of the Chartered Institute of Linguists (CIoL).

She has extensive experience in several language-related fields: literary, documentary and technical translation; lexicography and terminology; creative writing and scriptwriting; journalism and broadcasting; authoring language-learning courses; language technologies; and tutoring, mentoring and lecturing in creative writing and translation. At the BBC World Service in Bush House, London, she was a full-time producer and presenter; and for over two decades she worked as a full-time translator and terminologist for a UN specialised agency based in London (IMO).

Isabel has published fiction and poetry in English and Spanish. Spanish is her language of nostalgia, memory and exile, whereas English is her language of freedom, action and dissent. Her book La duda was shortlisted for two literary awards in Spain. Her collection of short stories Zero Negative–Cero negativo was written in both English and Spanish as an indictment against bloodshed in its many forms: war, torture, capital punishment, slaughter, martyrdom. Other fiction works include Paradise & Hell and La autora del fin del mundo; her latest poetry books are Dolorem Ipsum and Cuaderno de notas. Her most recent literary translation is Equidistant Voices (2023), an anthology of Latin American poets living in the UK.

Isabel is also a performer and voice artist, and she regularly takes part in Performance Poetry and Spoken Word events.
Her website is: https://www.isabeldelrio.org/

Poverty is a weapon of mass destruction
Isabel Ros López

Poverty is a weapon
of mass destruction
if people go hungry
when some are overfed
live on the streets
when some are over-homed
the sanctity of human life
it seems
is only sanct for some

when some can spend on a banquet
as much as a village in a month
when children learn no other rule
than the power of a gun

power junkies should get
help on the NHS…
that would be the best

Poverty is a weapon
of mass destruction
communities destroyed
destitute pushed to the void
to fight for bones
or throw stones
to huge tanks

Malnutrition
Exploitation
millions die
before the age of four
millions die
before…

Poverty is a weapon
of mass destruction
the rich protect themselves
against the seething
anger of the poor
with laws
with guns
and more
ultimate power
to mass destroy

take away life
take away joy

Millions depressed
forever sad
forever labelled “mad”

Poverty is a weapon
of mass destruction
and saying it
seems so out of fashion…