Description
Poetry. Latinx Studies. Translated by G. J. Racz. A BRIEF HISTORY OF MUSIC is the first complete English-language translation of the late Peruvian writer Eduardo Chirinos's Breve historia de la música, which was awarded the inaugural Premio Case de América de Poesía Americana prize in 2011. The poems in this singular, often poignant collection reflect Chirinos's fascination with music, one of the recurrent topics of his extensive poetic oeuvre alongside childhood, animals, film, the vagaries of memory, painting, and even the poetic tradition itself. Each of the twenty-three carefully crafted pieces here provides an imaginative scenario accompanying a chosen musical piece, from an anonymous Berbérie song to twentieth-century atonal works, featuring favorite compositions by such classical greats as Bach, Vivaldi, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt, Sibelius, Debussy, Gershwin, and Stravinsky, among others. This ninth volume of Chirinos's verse available in English, all translated by G. J. Racz, also includes the delightfully playful, meditative FOURTEEN FORMS OF MELANCHOLY, whose wistful, though ludic tone covers many of the themes found throughout Chirinos's unique, affecting work.
Author Bio
Eduardo Chirinos (1960-2016), born in Lima, Peru, was the author of some twenty books of poetry as well as volumes of academic criticism, essays, translations, children's books, and occasional pieces. A former professor of Spanish in the Department of Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures at the University of Montana-Missoula, his most recent poetry titles include Breve historia de la música (2001, winner of the inaugural Casa de América Prize for Latin American Poetry), Escrito en Missoula (2003), No tengo ruiseñores en el dedo (2006), Catorce formas de melancolía (2008), Humo de incendios lejanos (2009), Mientras el lobo está (2010, winner of the XII Generation of '27 Poetry Prize), Treinta y cinco lecciones de biología (y tres crónicas didácticas) (2013), Medicinas para quebrantamientos del halcón (2014), STILL LIFE WITH FLIES (Dos Madres Press, 2016), A BRIEF HISTORY OF MUSIC & FOURTEEN FORMS OF MELANCHOLY (Dialogos / Lavender Ink Press, 2020). His translation of the 2020 Nobelist in Literature Louise Glück's The Wild Iris as El iris salvaje was published by Pre-Textos in 2006.
Author City: LOVELAND, OH USA