In New York, Chilean writer, Raúl Zurita, presented his new book "The Country of Planks" as part of a series of presentations being made in conjunction with writer Daniel Borzutzky, in his dialogues "From Translations and Purgatory" ("De traducciones y purgatorios").
Daniel Borzutzky, American poet and fellow writer, also presented his book, "In the Murmurs of the Rotten Carcass Economy."
The launch of the new texts from the authors was held on March 31st, 2015 at McNally Jackson Books, and was attended by representatives of the American and Latin American literature.
The activity was organized by the Embassy of Chile in the United States and by McNally Jackson Books. Representing the Chilean government, Cultural Attaché to the United States, Javiera Parada, was present at Zurita's launch, together with the Consul-General of Chile to New York, Julio Fiol, who inaugurated the activity.
Raúl Zurita is a recognized Latin America poet, for his mythic-poetic perception and for his project to reconstruct the tribal voice from the psalm, the elegy, and verse. In the language he uses, there is a torn inner scream, oscillating between creed and the profane. Words are cosmically located; poetry that realizes the discomfort of the subject and its mismatch with history.
Raúl Zurita studied civil engineering in Valparaiso. In the port city along with Juan Luis Martínez and other prominent writers, they developed a dynamic poetic activity in the early 70's. Towards the end of the decade, their actions to protest the prevailing order provoked great controversy: faces burned with acid, public masturbation and blinding oneself. In 1982, Zurita wrote about the sky over New York in the poem, "New Life" ("La vida nueva").
A trilogy of Purgatorio, Anteparaíso and La vida nueva goes through deserts, beaches, mountain ranges, pastures and rivers, transiting precariously and painfully, seeking redemption.
Books: Purgatorio (1979), Anteparaíso (1982), Canto a su amor desaparecido (1986), El amor de Chile (1987), Selección de poemas (1990), La vida nueva (1994), Poemas militantes (2000), Sobre el amor y el sufrimiento (2000). He received a Guggenheim Fellowship and has just been awarded the National Prize for Literature.
Daniel Borzutzky lives in Chicago where he teaches poetry and literature at Wright College. Among his publications, in addition to "In the Murmurs of the Rotten Carcass Economy," include "The Book of Interfering Bodies" and "Arbitrary Tales." Borzutzky has translated Zurita's poetry, emphasizing this in his "Song for His Disappeared Love."