Below are some lyrical developments worth mentioning.
In Spanish, Visor has just released The Dream Within the Dream and Other Poems by Ana Blandiana, translated by Viorica Patea and Natalia Carbajosa. Anyone who does not know the Romanian's work can now receive his shock: a lyric of depth, in which sleep and death are constant presences. The two quinces that illustrate the cover represent a symbol dear to the author: autumn fruit, with a somewhat deceptive sweetness.
We celebrate the centenary of Wisława Szymborska's birth with a splendid edition of her Complete Poetry, translated by Abel Murcia, Gerardo Beltrán and Katarzyna Mołoniewicz (also in Visor). A lover of questions, the poetry of the 1996 Polish Nobel Prize winner never stops delving into the mystery of life, which often surprises us behind, if possible, the most everyday pretexts. “I don't blame spring / for coming again,” says the poet, lamenting the absence of her lover. “One thing I do not accept: / returning to that place.”
Lola Mascarell presents her fourth collection of poems: Lend me your voice (Tusquets): “understand that the house is the poem, / learn that the refuge is the song,” read two verses from this beautiful book. The statement can be applied to the entire work: shelter of poetry from the elements. The Andalusian María Sánchez proposes the quasi-prophetic verses of Fuego la sed (La Bella Varsovia): “There will be others / who have to learn / to read in our bones / the ashes of the forests / that were / one day.”
Pre-Textos publishes From the same bread, the same milk, by the Argentine María Teresa Andruetto: “Primitive peoples / fear that the photos will strip them / of their identity. “I also have / a vague fear of the camera.” Any fear disappears in the formulation of a poetry with narrative roots, almost didactic, a reflection of restlessness.
Broken Glass offers us At Eye Level by the American Jenny Xie, translated by Marta del Pozo Ortea. Lyrical story of a hopeless urban trip, with glimpses of the life that grows in the inhospitable: “I'm tired of laundry ruined by mold.” Alba publishes, with a translation by Vicente Monroy, the complete poetry of François Villon, accompanied by some compositions by his predecessors: Complete Works and Other Medieval Poets. Essential. Neus Aguado returns with 66 ways of looking (Suspicious Animal), which invites us to observe in another way, with a more deeply critical, sharper attitude.
In Catalan, Mireia Calafell took over the last Carles Riba with Si una emergència (Proa). The two meanings of the term emergency motivate the discourse of the work: loss, but also hope. The passion for the cosmos has rigorously marked Carles Duarte's poetry (or perhaps it is poetry that led him to his cosmological passion): verses that reflect on constant creation, on space and time. Those of Flames (Tres i Quatre) are constructed with references to the four elements. Fire, water or bark carry the message of life, always renewed; that of loss, that of a “spherical memory”.
This 2024 we celebrate the centenary of the death of Joan Salvat-Papasseit. There are several editions of his poetry planned, for diverse audiences. For now, we have the valuable Complete Poetry, in the care of Jordi Cornudella (Edicions 62), which makes the lyrical work of the remembered Barceloneta author available to the public. A few months ago, by the way, Jordi Virallonga gave us a consistent anthology of the poetry and prose of the same author, beautifully translated into Spanish: I have crossed paths with a man passing by (Cátedra), which should serve to make Salvat's verse was better known in the Hispanic community.
For his part, Flâneur offers us what, without a doubt, constitutes the great poetic news of the season: the integral translation, by Eusebi Ayensa, of the lyrics of Konstandinos P. Kavafis: Poesia completa I. Canonical poems and Poesia completa II. Rejected, reserved, unfinished and prose poems. The translator and editor has worked on it for eight years, and the result stands out: a joy of editing that allows you to rediscover one of the most profound and influential lyrical voices of the 20th century.
Narrator and incisive poet, Esteve Miralles gathers all his poetry in L'Estrany (La Breu): a joy.
On the other hand, Pagès recovers the work of Antoni Tàpies-Barba: La llum deshabitada. Anthology (1973-2022). Almost fifty years of the lyrical work of an author who began by signing daring avant-garde exercises and who later evolved into a lyric of moral reflection.
Finally, Francesc Bombí-Vilaseca surprises us with Fever with ice (Fonoll), book in three languages (Spanish-Catalan-English) and slow cooking. While Ernest Farrés publishes Franciscanismes (Stonberg): a magnificent collection of poems that takes the figure of Francisco de Asís as a provocative example.
