Before saying any of the great words by David Huerta and translated by Mark Schafer

This is poetry from Mexico.

Before saying any of the great words by David Huerta translated by Mark Schafer is published by Copper Canyon Press. This is a Book originally written in Spanish. This was published in 2008.0 and has the ISBN of 9.781556592874E12.

David Huerta’s Before saying any of the great words, translated by Mark Schafer, carries the weight of a poet deeply aware that language can fail precisely where it most wants to be grand. The title is humble and enormous at once. Before the great words, there is breath, hesitation, preparation, doubt. Huerta is one of Mexico’s major poets, and this Copper Canyon Press selection gives English-language readers a serious entrance into his lyric intelligence. I would not begin by explaining the great words. I would begin by listening to what comes before them: the pressure of thought gathering itself, the ethical care around speech, the poem asking whether language can be worthy of what it names.

If you’d like to see international poetry continue and gain traction, consider requesting this work from your local library, or purchasing it from places like Open Books (a poetry only bookstore), Asterism Books (an independent press distributor), or bookshop.org to connect you with your local bookstores.

Check out more of the always in-progress translated poetry index here.