Description
Poetry. Latinx Studies. Translated by Stephen Rosenshein. Like an anthropologist doing fieldwork, in UPPER VOLTA Yanko González collects language from street corners, grocery store aisles, cocktail hours, and historical sources, laying data bare with a poet's meticulous hand. In his findings, González gives voice to the voiceless, and exposes the underbelly of our own biases—the ways in which they manifest in everyday language and collective consciousness. Originally published in Chile in 2007, UPPER VOLTA transcends borders and boundaries in its exploration of topics all too relevant in our current political climate. Like a mirror, it forces us to look head-on at the language of globalization and ethnocentrism and the changing tide of thought and culture within our own society.
Author Bio
Yanko González is a poet and Professor of Social and Cultural Anthropology at the Universidad Austral de Chile. His works include de Metales Pesados, Héroes Civiles y Santos Laicos -entrevistas a escritores chilenos-, Alto Volta, Elabuga y Objetivo General. González also co-edited the poetry anthologies Carne fresca: poesía chilena reciente and ZurDos: Última poesía latinoamericana. In addition, his poems have appeared in multiple Chilean and Latin American Poetry anthologies, including Cuerpo plural: Antología de la poesía hispanoamericana contemporánea, The Alteration of Silence: Recent Chilean Poetry, and Ultima poesia chilena. In 2007, González received the Chilean Critics Award for the best poetry book for Alto Volta. His work has been translated into French, English, German and Dutch.
Author City: VALDIVIA CHL