The Whole Island Six Decades of Cuban Poetry [Paperback]

Cuba's cultural influence throughout the Western Hemisphere, and especially in the United States, has been disproportionally large for so small a country. This landmark volume is the first comprehensive overview of poetry written over the past sixty years. Presented in a beautiful Spanish-Englishen faceedition,The Whole Islandmakes available the astonishing achievement of a wide range of Cuban poets, including such well-known figures as Nicol?s Guill?n, Jos? Lezama Lima, and Nancy Morej?n, but also poets widely read in Spanish who remain almost unknown to the English-speaking worldamong them Fina Garc?a Marruz, Jos? Kozer, Ra?l Hern?ndez Nov?s, and ?ngel Escobarand poets born since the Revolution, like Rogelio Saunders, Omar P?rez, Alessandra Molina, and Javier Marim?n. The translations, almost all of them new, convey the intensity and beauty of the accompanying Spanish originals. With their work deeply rooted in Cuban culture, many of these poetsboth on and off the islandhave been at the center of the political and social changes of this tempestuous period. The poems offered here constitute an essential source for understanding the literature and culture of Cuba, its diaspora, and the Caribbean at large, and provide an unparalleled perspective on what it means to be Cuban.

Mark Weissis a poet, translator, publisher, and editor. His publications include six books of poetry; as coeditor,Across the Line/Al otro lado: The Poetry of Baja California; and as translator,Stet: Selected Poems of Jos? Kozer.

INTRODUCTION
Cuban Tightrope: Public and Private Lives of the Poets
A Note on the Text

Nicol?s Guill?n
de El gran zoo|from The Great Zoo
El caribe|The Carib
Guitarra|Guitar
La pajarita de papel|Little Paper Bird
La Osa Mayor|Ursa Major
El Aconcagua|Aconcagua
Los r?os|The Rivers
Se?ora|Lady
La sed|Thirst
El hambre|Hunger
Las nubes|Cloulƒ=