Arctic Poems
a selection from Arctic Poems by Vicente Huidobro
translated from the Spanish by Nathan Hoks
24 pages, paper, staple bound
Toad Press, 2010, $5
About:
Vicente Huidobro (1893-1948) was one of the first South American avant-garde poets. Born in 1893 in Santiago, Chile, Huidobro moved to Paris in 1916 where he met Guillaume Apollinaire, Pierre Reverdy, and many other Cubist poets and artists. At this time Huidobro continued to develop his theory of poetry, "creationism," which advocates writing "a poem the way nature makes a tree." Arctic Poems dates from this period.
Nathan Hoks has published poems and translations in Lit, Verse, Crazyhorse, Circumference, and many other journals. His first book of poetry, Reveilles, will be published by Salt in fall 2010.
- Molossus recognized Arctic Poems as a "Weekend Gem." Wonderful!
- In Galatea Resurrects #26, Monica Manolachi identifies Arctic Poems and the act of translation as "atemporal breach, an opening towards interpretation."
Excerpt: