Jacqueline Hurtley joined Jimmy Burns at the Cervantes Institute in London to present ‘ The Odyssey’, her acclaimed biography of Walter Starkie, the controversial Anglo-Irish hispanista and founder of the British Council in Spain. Guests were treated to a fascinating insight into Starkie’s life and career, with stories and anecdotes which painted a vivid picture of the man himself.

Hispanic scholar, musician and writer, Walter Starkie is perhaps best remembered for his travel books Raggle Taggle – subtitled ‘Adventures with a fiddle in Hungary and Roumania’ – and its sequels, Spanish Raggle Taggle and Don Gypsy. This compelling new biography seeks to prove that there was more, much more, to his life and career. Walter Starkie was launched into a life of firsts, inaugurating the chair of Spanish at Trinity College Dublin and being appointed representative of the British Council in Spain after the Civil War.

Prof. Jacqueline Hurtley lectures in the Department of English and German at the University of Barcelona.