America

Bilingual Edition

By Fernando Valverde

2021

First Published

4.28

Average Rating

176

Number of Pages

5H22M

Audio Length

A Virginia Living Favorite Book (2021) In Fernando Valverde’s América, “sorrow is ancient.” Mournfully lyrical, politically sharp, with a sweeping view of American roots, dysfunctions, and ideals―as if from above, and yet also from within―this is a book that deconstructs the legacy of empire. From the Mississippi River to Fulton Avenue, from slavery to “lone wolf” shooters, Valverde grieves but does not wince away from all that is lost to greed and a culture of violence, painting an urgent portrait of “the thirst of America / a smile satisfied to death.” Valverde is widely regarded as one of the most important younger Spanish-language poets. Here his vibrant voice and convictions are translated and introduced by Carolyn Forché, herself a world-renowned poet of witness. Bilingual, with Spanish originals and English translations.

Avg Rating

4.28

Number of Ratings

5 STARS

44%

4 STARS

44%

3 STARS

2 STARS

1 STARS

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Author

Fernando Valverde

Author · 3 books

Fernando Valverde has been voted the most relevant Spanish-language poet born since 1970 by nearly two hundred critics and researchers from more than one hundred international universities (Harvard, Oxford, Columbia, Princeton, Bologna, Salamanca and the Sorbonne). His books have been published in different countries in Europe and America and translated into several languages. He has received some of the most significant awards for poetry in Spanish, among them the Federico García Lorca, the Emilio Alarcos del Principado de Asturias, and the Antonio Machado. His last book, The Insistence of Harm, has been the most-sold book of poetry in Spain and has received the Book of the Year award from the Latino American Writers Institute of the City University of New York. In 2014, he was nominated for a Latin Grammy for his collaboration in a work of fusion between poetry and flamenco. For ten years, he has worked as a journalist for the Spanish newspaper El País. He directs the International Festival of Poetry in Granada—one of the most important literary events in Europe—that has featured more than 300 authors, including several Nobel Prize laureates.