The Poems of Sidney West

Juan Gelman (Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1930) is one of the most read and influential poets in the Spanish language. He was published more than twenty books of poetry since 1956 and was been translated into fourteen languages. A political activist and critical journalist since his youth, Gelman was not only been a literary paradigm but also a moral one, within and outside of Argentina. Among his most recent awards were the National Poetry Prize (Argentina, 1997), the Juan Rulfo Prize in Latin American and Caribbean Literature (Mexico, 2000), the Pablo Neruda Prize (Chile, 2005), the Queen Sofia Prize in Ibero-American Poetry (Spain, 2005), and the Cervantes Prize (the most important award given to a Hispanic writer, Spain, 2007). He died in Mexico City in 2014. Rodriguez Nunez

This translation offers to English readers for the first time the splendid verse of imaginary American author Sidney West, created by Juan Gelman, one of the greatest living poets of the Hispanic world. These laments question Western assumptions surrounding death, erase boundaries between poetry and narrative, privilege the magical as a vital aspect of reality and seek the transformation of the lyric persona.

Acknowledgements Juan Gelman: Translation as Fidelity lamento por la muerte de parsifal hoolig lament for the death of parsifal hoolig lamento por el arbolito de philip lament for philip's tiny tree lamento por gallagher bentham lament for gallagher bentham lamento por la tortola de butch butchanam lament for butch butchanam's turtle-dove lamento por el pajaro de chester carmichael lament for chester carmichael's bird lamento por el sapo de stanley hook lament for stanley hook's toad lamento por los ojos de vernon vries lament for vernon vries' eyes lamento por el ciruelo de cab cunningham lament for cab cunningham's plum tree lamento por los que envidiaron a david cassidy lament for those who envied david cassidy lamento por el dia espanol de raf maloney lament for raf maloney's spanish day lamento por el utero de mecha vaugham lament for mecha vaugham's uterus lamento por la nuca de tom steward lament for tom steward's nape lamento por los alelies de ost maloney lament for ost maloney's wallflowers lamento por las aguas de bigart sample lament for bigart sample's waters lamento por los pies de andrew sinclair lament for andrew sinclair's feet lamento por las flores de david burnham lament for david burnham's flowers lamento por el vuelo de bob chambers lament for bob chamber's flight lamento por los pies de carmichael o'shaughnessy lament for carmichael o'shaughnessy's feet lamento por la tripa de helen carmody lament for helen carmody's gut lamento por el pelo de bright morgan lament for bright morgan's hair lamento por la camisa de sam dale lament for sam dale's shirt lamento por la historia de cab calloway lament for cab calloway's story lamento por la nina blanca de johnny petsum lament for johnny petsum's white girl lamento por el llanto de sim simmons lament for sim simmon's weeping lamento por las yerbas de jack hammerstein lament for jack hammerstein's grasses lamento por la gente de raf salinger lament for raf salinger's people lamento por la mano de arthur donovan lament for arthur donovan's hand lamento por la llama de roy joseph gally lament for roy joseph gally's flame lamento por el furor de roy hennigan lament for roy hennigan's rage lamento por los idiotas de warren s. w. cormoran lament for warren s. w. cormoran's idiots lamento por las manos de astor frederick lament for astor frederick's hands lamento por el sicomoro de tommy derk lament for tommy derk's sycamore lamento por george bentham lament for george bentham lamento por la cucharita de sammy mccoy lament for sammy mccoy's tiny spoon Fe de erratas Errata