Neruda & Modern Latin American Literature
Pablo Neruda of Chile, 1904-1973, won the Nobel Prize in 1971. Jorge Edwards, a Chilean writer, discusses Neruda’s vast literary output. Edwards, who knew Neruda, describes how his work evolved from early romantic poetry to, after the Spanish Civil War, radical and political. Edwards has great insight into Neruda and the nuances and textures of his poetry ranging from Spain in My Heart to The Heights of Macchu Picchu. His influence was felt throughout Latin America. Colombian writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez called Neruda “the greatest poet of the 20th century in any language.”
Interview by David Barsamian.
Recorded at KGNU.
Speaker
Jorge Edwards
Jorge Edwards is a Chilean novelist and journalist. During the presidency of Salvador Allende, Edwards reopened the Chilean embassy in Cuba. But only three months later, the government of Fidel Castro declared him persona non grata. From this episode he wrote, perhaps, his most famous work, Persona non grata. In 1994, Edwards was appointed as Chile’s ambassador to UNESCO. In 2008 his novel La Casa de Dostoievsky won the prestigious Premio Iberoamericano Planeta-Casa de America Prize.
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