Materia Prima
Anthology of poetry by Amanda Berenguer
Edited by Kristin Dykstra and Kent Johnson; multiple translators
Ugly Duckling Presse
Materia Prima is the first English-language collection of Amanda Berenguer’s poetry. A key contributor to Uruguay’s famed literary Generación del 45, Berenguer (1921-2010) stands among the most important post-World War II poets of Latin America, along with her now-legendary compatriot Marosa di Giorgio. Berenguer’s poetry, stylistically and conceptually varied, ranges from classic, measured lyric to Dickinson-inspired gnomic utterance; from metaphysical and erotic rhetorical effusion to condensed and radically concrete experiment; from seemingly apolitical languor to pointed ideological dissent.
The poems included in this edition span a large portion of Berenguer’s career and are taken from eight books, and an additional section dedicated to her visual poems.
Translations by Gillian Brassil, Anna Deeny Morales, Mónica de la Torre, Kristin Dykstra, Kent Johnson, Urayoán Noel, Jeannine Marie Pitas, and Alex Verdolini.
The volume also includes an introduction by Roberto Echavarren and an interview conducted by Silvia Guerra.
A finalist for the 2020 Best Translated Book Award.
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Related
The Lady of Elche, by Amanda Berenguer, a bilingual edition
Review of Materia Prima at Asymptote
Intermedium: A series at Jacket2, by Kristin Dykstra
Book Review at Good River Review