Still Life With Loops
Published on 6. March 2008
Book
Paperback/Softback
126 pages
978-1-904614-46-3 (ISBN)
Description
Born in San Sebastian, and still living and working there, the Basque poet Eli Tolaretxipi has published two collections of poetry in Spanish - Past Love Still Life and 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.
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.
Translated by Philip Jenkins
"... short as they are, each one has an intensity that needs to be savoured... The poems are written in free verse, subtly rhythmic in Spanish and English. Powerful stuff. Nothing as simple as it looks. Congratulations to Arc - they've done us proud."
Malcolm Parr, Roundyhouse
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.
Translated by Philip Jenkins
"... short as they are, each one has an intensity that needs to be savoured... The poems are written in free verse, subtly rhythmic in Spanish and English. Powerful stuff. Nothing as simple as it looks. Congratulations to Arc - they've done us proud."
Malcolm Parr, Roundyhouse
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Lancs
United Kingdom
Dimensions
Height: 216 mm
Width: 138 mm
Thickness: 10 mm
Weight
178 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-904614-46-3 (9781904614463)
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Schweitzer Classification
Persons
ELI TOLARETXIPI was born, lives and works in San Sebastian, Spain. She has published two poetry collections in Spanish and her poetry has also been translated into French and Italian. Amor muerto naturaleza muerta (Past Love Still Life) was published in 1999 and was praised for its poetics of unease. Her second volume Los lazos del numero (The Loops of the Figure) appeared in 2003. Structurally dazzling, its poems deal with perception, dream and the nature of poetry. She is the Spanish translator of Elizabeth Bishop, Sylvia Plath, Menna Elfyn and Tess Gallagher.PHILIP JENKINS translates contemporary Spanish poetry and lives in Spain. He and R. D. V. Glasgow have translated The Black Sheep and Other Fables (Acorn Book Company, 2005) by the Guatemalan writer Augusto Monterroso.ROBERT CRAWFORD has published six collections of poetry, four of which have been Poetry Book Society Recommendations; he has also won two Scottish Arts Council Book Awards. With Simon Armitage he edited The Penguin Book of Poetry from Britain and Ireland since 1945 (1998) and with Mick Imlah The New Penguin Book of Scottish Verse (2000). A founding editor of the magazine Verse, he has served as a judge for the T. S. Eliot Prize, the National Poetry Competition, and other awards. He has been Professor of Modern Scottish Literature at the University of St. Andrews since 1989.
Content
Translator'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.