Description
Poetry. Latino/Latina Studies. Translated from the Spanish by Mark Statman in a bilingual edition, with an introduction by Jesse Lee Kercheval. In this first full-length publication of his work in English, Uruguayan poet, visual artist, musician and cultural critic Martín Barea Mattos aims his poetic collage technique at the materialist pop culture that has become the norm in the Americas. Ubiquitous cultural artifacts and spaces like flash drives and parking lots take the place of icons of old as he moves along the circuitous streets of the modern city and into nightmarish mega-superstores (with Baudelaire as his guide), covering this territory with an accomplished array of stylistic shifts, sometimes reminiscent of Frank O'Hara's musings on the everyday, sometimes with deeply symbolic imagery more resembling García Lorca. With echoes, as well, of Ginsberg, Kafka and Dante, Barea Mattos emerges here as one of the more daring and darkly funny voices in poetry today.
Called by Aliki Barnstone a "consummate poet–translator," Mark Statman has rendered the work, often spiced with local idioms, into a compelling, readable English, perfectly capturing Barea Mattos's singular style.
Author Bio
Born in Montevideo, Republic of Uruguay, in 1978, Martín Barea Mattos has published several books of poetry, including Made in China (2016), Parking Barea Mattos (2014), Conexo (with illustrations by Cecilia Mattos; 2013), Por hora por día por mes (2008); Los ojos escritos (2003); 2995/ cadáver del diecisiete (2002), and Fuga de ida y vuelta (2000). He has also published several CDs with versions of his poems with musical accompaniment. His work has also appeared in numerous anthologies in both Spanish and English, including América invertida, (New México Ed., USA, 2016) and EARTH, WATER AND SKY (Diálogos / Lavender Ink, 2016). In 2013 and again in 2016 and 2017 he organized Mundial Poético de Montevideo (World Poetry Montevideo), a festival attended by poets from 15 countries, and since 2006 he has been the regular curator of Ronda de poetas, a weekly reading series at the famous La Ronda Café in Montevideo.
Author City: MONTEVIDEO URU