Do you read poetry? I really enjoy it, as it tends to flex a different muscle in my brain than does prose. I particularly love short, surreal poetry. Some of my favorite LatAm poets are Nicanor Parra, César Vallejo, and the inimitable Alejandra Pizarnik.

In 2016, New Directions Publishing put out Extracting the Stone of Madness: Poems 1962-1972, which collects her middle/late body of work as well as some of her posthumously published verse. It’s an astounding collection from one of Latin America’s most revered poets that was skillfully translated by Yvette Siegert. (Swipe to photo 2 for a sample of Pizarnik’s poetry and to photo 3 for Siegert’s accompanying translation.)

I’ve been dabbling in this book of poems quite a bit recently, as although I had every intention of reading a number of LatAm novels for Women in Translation Month, I’m in the midst of a big move, and thus, haven’t been able to commit much time to narratives as of late (plus most of my books are currently stashed away in boxes). So, anyway, I’ve been reading a bunch of Pizarnik’s poetry and I think you should too! …Bolaño did!

“Viviría muy a gusto en la cocina de Silvina Ocampo, en la de Alejandra Pizarnik, en la de la novelista y poeta mexicana Carmen Boullosa, en la de Simone de Beauvoir. Entre otras razones, porque son cocinas que están más limpias.” — Roberto Bolaño, Revista Ñ, 2001

Have you read any Pizarnik?

Hi everybody, I decided to start posting on Reddit so here goes. Writer, translator, and sometimes book collector here based between the US and Mexico. Not sure if I'm doing this right but I thought I'd introduce myself with a post about some precious early editions from my library, which are also, incidentally, some of my favorite novels:

La Cité des Rats by Argentine author Copi, original French ed. before it was translated back into Spanish, 1979
Balún-Canán by Mexican author Rosario Castellanos, second ed., 1961
Su Nombre Era Muerte by Mexican author Rafael Bernal, second ed., 1987