Description
Book SynopsisBorn in San Sebastian, and still living and working there, the Basque poet Eli Tolaretxipi has published two collections of poetry in Spanish - "Amor muerto naturaleza muerta" ("Past Love Still Life") and "Los lazos del numero" ("The Loops of the Figure"). Although translated into French and Italian, she has had to wait until the publication of this volume for her poetry to appear in English in a fine translation by Philip Jenkins; Robert Crawford's excellent introduction to this volume helps to set her work in context.Eli Tolaretxipi's poetry has a rich sense of unease, the sense of unease we feel about love and perception. Her first collection draws on the language of the visual arts to portray the end of a failing relationship, while her second reflects on the nature of perception and poetry. "Still Life with Loops", as its title suggests, is made up of work from both these collections. Her poetry is similar in texture to that of some of the English-language women poets she has translated into Spanish, Elizabeth Bishop and Sylvia Plath among them.
Table of ContentsTranslator's Preface, Introduction by Robert Crawford.From PAST LOVE STILL LIFE: I i, I ii, I iii, I iv, I v, I vii, I viii, I xiii, I xxvii, I xxviii, I xxxi, I xxxiv, I xxv, II i, II ii, II iii, II v, II vi, II x, II xii, II xiii. El Pez / The Fish. From THE LOOPS OF THE FIGURE: Es un pasaje estrecho / There is a narrow passage, Yo estoy ahi / I am there, Cercada por una luz que desprende / The street is surrounded by a light, Lectura 27-xii-2000 11 pm / Reading 27-xii-2000 11 pm, Lectura 29-xii-2000 1.00 am / Reading 29-xii-2000 1.00 am, Lectura 8-i-2001 5.45 am / Reading 8-i-2001 5.45 am, Conferencia 13-i-2001 7.30 pm / Lecture 13-i-2001 7.30 pm, Lectura 9 / Reading 9, La maquina de museo resopla... / The engine from the museum snorts..., El cuerpo del agua esta metido / The mass of water is enclosed, En suenos mato a uno, / In dreams I kill someone, Petirrojo de cuerpo diminuto, / A robin with a tiny body, Padre / Father, Madre / Mother, Yo / Me, Me coloco detras de el / I stand behind him, Nada ocurre tal y como ocurre en el poema / Nothing happens in the way that it happens in the poem, La noche pasa como una enfermedad... / The night passes like an illness..., La cama es un pozo / The bed is a well, La maquina de museo consigue detener el agua, / The engine from the museum manages to stop the water, Hay un sobresalto inesperado pero regular / She has an unexpected but regular fright, El viento debe de ser eso / The wind must be this, Paso las hojas de la libreta / I turn the pages of the notebook, Me cortan un trozo de carne del hombro / They cut a piece of skin from my shoulder, Los cuerpos se tienden sobre... / The bodies lie down on..., El viento de la maquina bate / The wind from the machine strikes.Biographical notes.
