Book details

Book description

This bilingual anthology brings together a representative selection from more than a half century of this distinguished Brazilian poet's lifetime work. Along with previously translated poems are many others in English for the first time. The remarkable group of poets and translators includes Elizabeth Bishop, Alastair Reid, Galway Kinnell, Louis Simpson, and W. S. Merwin. "Joao Cabral de Melo Neto is one of Brazil's most acclaimed poets, and this selection of his luminous, often surreal works reveals why. From his early days, Mr. Cabral has written poems that are marked by a captivating use of simple language. Avoiding ceremony and circumstance, they follow centuries-old paths rather than struggle to break new ground. While it is difficult to capture the sensuous flow of the original Portuguese, these translations . . . are remarkably true to the spirit of the originals." --New York Times Book Review Translator Djelal Kadir is Dolores K. and Walter Neustadt Jr. Professor of Comparative Literature at the University of Oklahoma and editor of World Literature Today.