Poet in New York/Poeta En Nueva York - by Frederico García Lorca (Paperback)

About the Book

Poems in English and Spanish; introd. and critical matter in English.

Book Synopsis

"The definitive version of Lorca's masterpiece, in language that is as alive and molten today as was the original."--John Ashbery

Newly translated for the first time in ten years, Federico García Lorca's Poet in New York is an astonishing depiction of a tumultuous metropolis that changed the course of poetic expression in both Spain and the Americas. Written during Lorca's nine months at Columbia University at the beginning of the Great Depression, Poet in New York is widely considered one of the most important books Lorca produced. This influential collection portrays a New York City populated with poverty, racism, social turbulence, and solitude--a New York intoxicating in its vitality and beauty. After the tragedy of September 11, 2001, poets Pablo Medina and Mark Statman were struck by how closely this seventy-year-old work spoke to the atmosphere of New York. They were compelled to create a new English version using a contemporary poet's eye, which upholds Lorca's surrealistic technique, mesmerizing complexity, and fierce emotion unlike any other translation to date. A defining work of modern literature, Poet in New York is a thrilling exposition of one American city that continues to change our perspective on the world around us.

Review Quotes

"[Poet in New York] may well be one of the greatest books of poems ever written about New York City. . . . A fierce indictment of the modern world incarnated in city life . . . Wildly imaginative . . . An apocalyptic outcry, a dark, instructive, metaphysical bowl of loneliness."

"Pablo Medina and Mark Statman have produced the definitive version of Lorca's masterpiece, in language that is as alive and molten today as was the original in 1930."