Book Description
The first major collection in almost twenty years of new work by one of Latin America's greatest poets.

"Real seriousness," Nicanor Parra, the antipoet of Chile, has said, rests in "the comic." And read in that light, this newest collection of his work is very serious indeed. It is an abundant offering of his signature mocking humor, subverting received conventions and pretensions in both poetry and everyday life, public and private, ingeniously and wittily rendered into English in an antitranslation (the word is Parra's) by Liz Werner.

Of the fifty-eight pieces in Antipoems, the first twenty-three are taken from Parra's 1985 collection, Hojas de Parra ("Vine Leaves" or "Leaves of Parra"), two others appeared in his Páginas en Blanco ("Blank Pages," 2001), while the rest come straight out of his notebooks and have never been published before, either in Spanish or English. The book itself is divided into two sections, "Antipoems" (im)proper and a selection of Parra's most recent incarnation of the antipoem, the hand-drawn images of his "Visual Artefactos." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Amazing
This is a very nice book, another amazing collection of (anti)poems and visual artefactos by Parra.

Remarkable translation of Liz Werner.

This is an english edition, but since some of these poems have not appeared previously, this book will also be a must-have for Parra followers in the spanish community. But even for old poems, is a very interesting experience to read the antipoems in a different language and to see them find their way in the intricacies of each language. It is necessary to say, however, that in the introduction Werner clearly states that Parra thinks that these are not really translations, because antipoems cannot be translated, so these are rewrittings. But probably the best possible ones.

Parra style, for those that have not heard about him, is better understood by reading it than by using descriptions:

TO MAKE A LONG STORY SHORT

To make a long story short
I leave all my possessions
to the Municipal Slaughterhouse
to the Special Forces Unit of the Police Department
to Lucky Dog Lotto

So now if you want you can shoot

Poetryophiles watch out!
This is it, this is where poetry had to go after its many incarnations and its eventual and fateful death. Parra takes (knowingly or unwittingly) Derrida's concept of differrance and uses it to sledge hammer away his words into his `antipoems'. You'll find no Byron in his pages, or even any Cummings, not to mention any particular style per se. There's so much experimenting -and simplifying- with the word here one doesn't know what one is reading anymore... poems? random (though coherent within themselves) thoughts on paper? cooking recipes? jokes? straightforward reflections on banal life? political commentary?.. yes, all of this.

If there is anything `anti' here is anti-boredom, each `piece' jumps out of the page with offhand easiness, and pomposity is reduced to the reader's own dull lack of imagination. Parra does so much away with droll academic stodginess and allows the invigorating flow of his... expressive, often hilarious and profound, communications; for it is this in the end that comes through -to which anyone at any reading level can enjoy. There are even some `poems' done in a cool artwork-doodle style. What a stimulating and inspired work of art.

Chilean Poetry
There are a wide variety of translations here; in both quality and fidelity to the original spanish. The fact that the poems are presented with both the original and the translation makes this book worth it. The Miller Williams and William Carlos Williams translations are wonderful, but some translations, like those by Ginsberg suffer from perhaps too much beat aesethetic co-oped into the work.Still, Parra is wonderful, full of grit and strange images; yet the Spanish, aside from a few words that are only found in Chilean Spanish, is clear and easy to read.I have even translated some of these poems myself. This is amazing work.

A Full Frontal Assault on Poetry
Theodor Adorno claimed that to write poetry after Auschwitz is barbaric.If so, then Parra is the one man who can justifiably escape the charge of barbarity.What Parra writes is nothing less than a full-scale assault on poetry, or as he calls it, "anti-poetry".Parra's work stands in violation of everything that poetry has ever been.If you are used to lyricism and poetic embellishment and will accept nothing less, you will hate this book.Either that, or it will revolutionize how you see the poetic art.Parra is for poetry what the WWF is for entertainment: it is raw, crass and, as people say, "in your face".It is also brilliant.It is not poetry, but it is, in its own unique way, poetic.And like much of the best poetry always has been, it is immersed in life.Its themes are those we all recognize: crooked police, pestering grandchildren, the morning alarm.It expresses for us what we would all like to express but do not or will not.I suppose one could call it catharsis through anti-art.And perhaps in our post-holocaust world, the most genuine art IS anti-art.

Amazing
This book is truly magnificent. Parra has one of the most clever minds in poetry today. His antipoems are very attractive as they move away from the old traditional poetic style. I understand Parra will be proposed for the Literature Nobel Prize next year (2001). I couldn't agree more. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Poemas y Antipoemas - Nicanor Parra
Un libro monumental en el mundo poetico.
Desafortunadamente el autor todavia no recibe su merecido reconocimiento por su obra.

Antipoems at its best!
A must read / Latin American poetry beyond Neruda. ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document is an article from Letras Libres, published by Editorial Vuelta, S.A. de C.V. on December 1, 2000. The length of the article is 1735 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: PERFIL: -- Nicanor Parra: El demonio de la poesía --.(TT: Profile: --Nicanor Parra: the demon of poetry--.)
Author: Jorge Edwards
Publication: Letras Libres (Magazine/Journal)
Date: December 1, 2000
Publisher: Editorial Vuelta, S.A. de C.V.
Volume: 2Issue: 24Page: 92

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Book Description
This digital document is an article from Revista Chilena de Literatura, published by Universidad de Chile, Facultad de Filosofia y Humanidades on April 1, 2000. The length of the article is 1317 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Iván Carrasco Para leer a Nicanor Parra.(Reseña de libro)
Author: Ana María Cuneo
Publication: Revista Chilena de Literatura (Refereed)
Date: April 1, 2000
Publisher: Universidad de Chile, Facultad de Filosofia y Humanidades
Page: 156(3)

Article Type: Reseña de libro

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Book Description
This digital document is an article from Acta Literaria, published by Universidad de Concepcion on January 1, 2000. The length of the article is 8178 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Mi veterana se llamaba Clarisa y yo soy un simple predicador.(Nicanor Parra, poeta)(Sermones y predicas del Cristo de Elqui)
Author: Maria Nieves Alonso
Publication: Acta Literaria (Refereed)
Date: January 1, 2000
Publisher: Universidad de Concepcion
Issue: 25Page: 59(21)

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Book Description
This digital document is an article from Letras Libres, published by Thomson Gale on January 1, 2007. The length of the article is 2292 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Nicanor Parra 1914: antídoto: el chileno Nicanor parra, uno de los grandes poetas de la lengua, ha hecho de la ironía, la burla y la antisolemnidad una poética a contracorriente del otro monstruo literario de su generación y latitud, Pablo Neruda. Rafael Gumucio recorre las electrizantes obra y vida del gran antipoeta.(Ensayo crítico)
Author: Rafael Gumucio
Publication: Letras Libres (Magazine/Journal)
Date: January 1, 2007
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 9Issue: 97Page: 62(4)

Article Type: Ensayo crítico

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Book Description
This digital document is an article from Revista Chilena de Literatura, published by Universidad de Chile, Facultad de Filosofia y Humanidades on April 1, 2001. The length of the article is 5273 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Fichas bibliográficas sobre Nicanor Parra IV. (Documentos).(autor)(Bibliografía)
Author: Maximino Fernández Fraile
Publication: Revista Chilena de Literatura (Refereed)
Date: April 1, 2001
Publisher: Universidad de Chile, Facultad de Filosofia y Humanidades
Page: 133(12)

Article Type: Bibliografía

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Book Description
This digital document is an article from Revista Chilena de Literatura, published by Thomson Gale on April 1, 2005. The length of the article is 6595 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Antiparra productions, ciclo homenaje en torno a la figura y obra de Nicanor Parra: Coloquio Internacional de escritores y academicos. Santiago, Mineduc, 2002.
Author: Manuel Jofré
Publication: Revista Chilena de Literatura (Magazine/Journal)
Date: April 1, 2005
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Issue: 66Page: 137(12)

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Word count: 1976. ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document is an article from Atenea (Chile), published by Universidad de Concepcion- Atenea on March 22, 2002. The length of the article is 5875 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: El lugar del flaneur en la antipoesía.(incluye notas sobre la obra de Nicanor Parra)
Author: Leonidas T. Morales
Publication: Atenea (Chile) (Refereed)
Date: March 22, 2002
Publisher: Universidad de Concepcion- Atenea
Issue: 485Page: 31(12)

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Book Description
This digital document is an article from Revista Chilena de Literatura, published by Universidad de Chile, Facultad de Filosofia y Humanidades on April 1, 2003. The length of the article is 8216 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Discursos de sobremesa de Nicanor Parra y crisis del canon *. (Estudios).(poeta )
Author: Ivan Carrasco M.
Publication: Revista Chilena de Literatura (Refereed)
Date: April 1, 2003
Publisher: Universidad de Chile, Facultad de Filosofia y Humanidades
Page: 5(19)

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Book Description
This digital document is an article from Acta Literaria, published by Thomson Gale on January 1, 2004. The length of the article is 5268 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Nicanor Parra en el territorio del lenguaje.(autor)(Ensayo crítico)
Author: Andrés Gallardo
Publication: Acta Literaria (Magazine/Journal)
Date: January 1, 2004
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 29Page: 33(13)

Article Type: Ensayo crítico

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Book Description
This digital document is an article from Atenea (Chile), published by Universidad de Concepcion- Atenea on March 22, 2002. The length of the article is 7292 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Aproximación sentimental a la antipoesía.(incluye análisis de la obra de Nicanor Parra)
Author: María Nieves Alonso
Publication: Atenea (Chile) (Refereed)
Date: March 22, 2002
Publisher: Universidad de Concepcion- Atenea
Issue: 485Page: 13(17)

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