Poetry. Translated from the Spanish by Electa Arenal and Beatrix Gates. In this uniquely provocative collection, award-winning Spanish poet Jesus Aguado adopts the voice of Vikram Babu, a seventeenth century Indian mystic and basket-weaver who guides the reader on an irreverent and enjoyable truth-seeking mission. Each of these fifty fable-like poems ends with Vikram Babu posing a question for his audience, inviting us to take part in the work and let our own responses transform the meaning of the poem. Through the wry observations of his invented persona, Aguado gently unmasks human frailty and hypocrisy, revealing a world of twisted contradictions. In THE POEMS OF VIKRAM BABU, Aguado extends us an affable, whimsical welcome to a complex universe, an unforgettable world of slanted delight.
Author City: Barcelona SPA
Jesus Aguado born in Seville (almost) in 1961, is the author of, among other works, the following books: Los amores imposibles [Impossible Loves] (Hiperion Prize, Madrid, 1990), Libro de homenajes [Book of Homages] (Hiperion, Madrid, 1993), El fugitivo [The Fugitive] (Pre-Textos, Valencia, 1998), Los poemas de Vikram Babu [The Poems of Vikram Babu] (Hiperión, Madrid, 2000), lo que dices de mi [what you say about me] (Pre-Textos, Valencia, 2002), Heridas [Wounds] (Renacimiento, Sevilla, 2004), La astucia del vacío.Cuadernos de Benares: 1987-2004 [The Cunning Void] (Ediciones Narila, Malaga, 2005). Prominent among his anthologies: Antología de poesia devocional de la India [Anthology of Devotional Poetry of India] (Indica-Etnos, Varanasi, India, 1998), Antologia de poemas de las tribus de la India [Poems of the Tribes of India] (maRemoto, Malaga, 2003) y El vecino inquietante. Segunda antologia de poesia devocional de la India [The Disquieting Neighbor. Second Anthology of Devotional Poetry of India] (4 estaciones, Lucena, 2004), No pasa nada. Los poetas beats y Oriente [Nothing's Happening: The Beat Poets and the East] (El Bardo, Barcelona, 2007). His work has appeared in 40 poetry anthologies, including volumes in Italian, Portuguese, English, French, Romanian, and Swedish. He presently resides in Barcelona.