Chilean Poets: A New Anthology

This anthology offers a broad spectrum of modern and contemporary Chilean poetry, including both works by such eminent figures as Pablo Neruda, Gabriela Mistral, Pablo de Rocka, Vicente Huidobro, and Nicanor Parra and a representative sample from the succeeding groups and generations of poets who have gained public and critical acclaim. The editors have devoted considerable space to the new voices but not only to the best known among them and not just to their most familiar poems. The aim has been, rather, to encompass the diversity of aesthetic and thematic interests. Chilean poetry is no longer limited to a geographical region. The globalization began with the events of 1973, which sent Chileans into exile to the four corners of the earth, and it has been perpetuated and stimulated by the ever increasing facility of virtual communication. Thus, the anthology focuses not only on the multi-faceted poetry of Santiago and the strong, majestic poetry of the South and the North of Chile, but it embraces also writings by established and emerging poets in Canada and the United States, a product of the Chilean diaspora. Moreover, it seeks to reflect the various segments of contemporary Chilean poetry, such as that being written by women and indigenous poets. It has been said that the Spanish language is ideally suited to the creation of poetry. Here the editors have demonstrated that Chile occupies a place of privilege in this endeavour and that its poets can be justly proud of their explorations among the possibilities of poetic language.