Journal

Here is my latest contribution to the arts periodical Whispering Dialogue - this issue is titled ’The Genius or e-Genie'. The text is the beginning of my novella ’Paradise’, about a jouney in a spacecraft called Paradise... https://whisperingdialogue.com/2026/10/15/paradise/

My poem 'Burying the Dead' received an Honourable Mention in the Dark Poets Prize 2026. It describes my mother's funeral; I was 16 at the time... Image: View of Kingston-upon-Thames Cemetery by IdR When you are burying your mother, not you personally of course, but other mourners in your name. And not exactly your mother, of course, because what is a dead body except for a dead body, barely fragments of flesh and bone held together temporarily during that unstoppable process

IdR at Acton Library by IdR The 'Dead Poets' Slam took place on 1st October 2026 at Acton Library, and was was hosted by poet Dean Atta and organised by poet Robin Vaughan-Williams, with the participation of some superb Spoken Word performers. The winner was the brilliant Sheila Moylan. As a homage to Federico García Lorca, I recited La Tarara, an old Spanish children’s song, as well as my English translation of the song. Lorca restored this 19th century composition, adapted

Here is a poem I wrote when visiting Orkney in 2026 - it is dedicated to Anton and Sally: Under the afterglow lingering from evenfall, I am standing on 59° North and it is here that I encounter the amorphous, ashen light anticipating lightning, dew appearing when it is not yet due. With our inclination to hyperbole, we the havenless need to find a place to rest, and I mean true rest. All around us, the sea (a glutinous mound) and this green land (like gates of horn) are

A poem I wrote during my visit to North and South Uist in 2015, in both English and Spanish: Playing with dice in North Uist It was there −along the sweeping, unspoiled beach, no footprints from birds, sea unruffled by wind, white sand as if freshly bleached, sun shining with much enthusiasm though not warm− that you said this will not be forever, and I flatly refused to believe you. How can this seascape not last, its colours the very definition of infinity, its scent re

My poem/play dedicated to 19th century sculptor Camille Claudel. I first performed it at the Pitshanger Poets reading, during the My Muse Festival at Questors Theatre, London: Oh Camille! What happened to your art, Camille? Why do you no longer craft beautiful things? I asked her this when I visited her in the asylum. It’s a psychiatric asylum, mercifully we do not use such words anymore. Camille has been here for decades, since 1913 in fact. We are sitting in the garden. Y

My translation of a poem from 'Walden or Life in the Woods' by Henry David Thoreau. This is a project launched by Árdora Ediciones, with several poets contributing with their translations. Here is my translation into Spanish: And here are my comments:

Image by IdR Obsession number one... Look around you, but keep it to yourself: this is the gratuitous strife we were invited to, this is the scene where affliction wrecks the sienna-heart well before the end is due: you may choose to deliver a message of no surrender, but your death will remain a pending matter Obsession number two oh, the gleeful state of minds accepting the ticking of a lifespan as more than what it is: might we bear witness to this delusion, blo

Image by IdR Not for nothing you said “Welcome to Hell!” when we first met. You were as hot as hell, but I was warned that you tirelessly gave hell to everyone. How in hell did I fall for you? I soon realised you were no hell of a man, and ours turned out to be a match made in hell. Sure as hell, you became hell on earth, and loving you embodied a living hell. Who the hell did you think you were? There was no hope in hell and, scaring the hell out of me, you

My poem to Federico García Lorca. This is my most recent contribution to the arts periodical Whispering Dialogue. Lorca left us the most beautiful poems and plays, yet unbelievably there is no recording of this voice... Here is the link Image: Statue of Lorca in Plaza de Santa Ana, Madrid - by IdR

The QExtra My Muse Festival 2026 at The Questors Theatre in Ealing takes place between Monday 13 July and Friday 18 July, with plays performed from 7.30 pm. Two of my plays will be performed: on Monday, the short ‘The end of the world’; and on Friday, my 75min play ‘Yes, Alma, Yes’, dedicated to Alma Reville. On Saturday 18th there will be a music and poetry performance by Pitshanger Poets with multitalented musician Jasper Squire; I will be performing poems dedicated to four

An Oxford Poetry Circle event on Tuesday 28th at 7pm. With poets Michael Wyndham, Diana Bell, and myself. Hoping to see you there!

Image by IdR Adaptation for the Stage - A Transformative Experience between Languages and Genres An adaptation journey exploring the translation between languages and the transition between genres. The journey takes us from a short story in Spanish to another short story in English, and from there to an adaptation for the stage. The presentation will be followed by a script-in-hand performance of the short one-act play. https://www.bbk.ac.uk/annual-events/arts-week/arts-

I am honoured to have received an honourable mention for my poem ’On Sin'... On Sin Daily deeds in self-defence have this perfect symmetry: they mirror what has been done and demand penitence where it is due. No sin and no surrender. What acts our own, which the harvest of persuasion? Guiltless by birth, we are born of old and if we are guilty of any sin, it is uniquely the oldest sin of all: I will not be bound. We sin for others, bear others’ sins, and each event is

A selection of my poems has just been published by the prestigious 'Ars Notoria' magazine... Image by IdR https://arsnotoria.com/2025/11/09/isabel-del-rio-four-poems/

My poem 'Expelled from Paradise' was published in the recent issue of the arts periodical Whispering Dialogue . I will also be reading this poem at the WD event on Monday 27th at 5pm at the University of Westminster (Westminster Business School, 35 Marylebone Road, London NW1 5LS)

​ Isabel received an Honourable Mention from the Dark Poets Prize III 2025 for her poem ' Hands and Lips '.

My poem 'Graphology', on Franco’s declaration of the end of the Spanish civil war in 1939, has just been published in the prestigious arts periodical Whispering Dialogue... https://whisperingdialogue.com/2025/04/15/graphology/?fbclid=IwY2xjawJrPvJleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHu7ZyzGeEbQpTxF830wIOSQQhD792OHcSVxucWZZT3oGZeuOqT-aR4Z0vl0k_aem_BtmOWwpmaqltTV8f5ZuBlA Image by IdR

My dark free sonnet "Once your heart stops beating, the blood collects", published in the latest edition of the outstanding literary...

My poem and image about dreams, 'It is said', have just been published in the latest edition of the outstanding arts magazine Steel...

Poesíavoz , baúl de voces e ideas de poetas y editoriales en estado de alarma - una iniciativa de la editorial y librería Enclave de...

My poem about the countdown of a life from ten to zero has been published by the arts periodical Whispering Dialogue. Click on the roses...

International Translation Day 2024 saw the launch of a new issue of the scholarly journal Il Pietrisco, ‘Mirrors, Landscapes, Battles’....

On Tuesday 12th March, do not miss a panel presentation at the LBF by the Poetry Translation Centre (PTC) and the Translators’...