Alphabet of the World: Selected Works by Eugenio Montejo: 08 (Chicana & Chicano Visions of the Americas)

Eugenio Montejo was one of the most significant Latin American poets and essayists of the past half century. Montejo (who died in 2008) was awarded both the National Prize for Literature in his native Venezuela and the prestigious Octavio Paz International Poetry and Essay Prize. This long-overdue volume offers selections from all ten of Montejos books of poetry as well as a handful of exemplary prose works. All of the selections are presented here in the original Spanish with translations in English by Kirk Nesset a prize-winning American writer and poet.. Alphabet of the World reveals Montejos themes and stylistic range as it charts his formal and emotional trajectory. The poems offer meditations on the subject of time on the immutability of spirit on eros and birth and on the role of language in all things human. The book also includes excerpts from Montejos Notebook of Blas Coll and Guitar of the Horizon and three complete essays selected specifically for the insight and depth they lend to his work in both genres.. The books introduction situates and appraises Montejos achievement exploring the corpus comprehensively. Alphabet of the World marks a major stride toward winning Montejo the English-speaking recognition he deserves.