Acknowledgment
(for which personal thanks): I want to express my gratitude to Steve Luttrell for the opportunity to realize our shared vision of this issue of The Café Review as a tribute to one of the world’s greatest living poets, little known in the English–speaking world. It is a vision I harbored since I first read Hardie St. Martin’s masterful translations more than ten years ago. I would also like to thank Robert Arnold, Juan Daniel Perrota, Asa Zatz, and David Unger for their aid and encouragement along the way.
Special Note:
This issue of The Café Review is a tribute to Juan Gelman edited by Paul Pines.
Interview with Juan Gelman
Juan Gelman Interview
Dialogues with Gelman That Matter of Not Knowing While Knowing The following dialogue with Jorge Boccanera begins in the poet’s house at the end
Poems
Juan Gelman’s Exile
Ilan Stavans Juan Gelman’s poetry bears witness to the bankruptcy of Argentine morality. There’s a sense of urgency in it. Rather than
An Appreciation: The Translator in Eight Movements — and a Coda
David Unger An Appreciation: The Translator in Eight Movements — and a Coda I. Hardie St. Martin was a remarkably inventive translator, who knew
The Mystic Warrior
Paul Pines The Mystic Warrior From where you sit Coatlique war is a flower spreading its petals over the land, a nuclear blossom. Pick me as you
Two Juans: A Knowing Beyond Knowledge
Paul Pines Two Juans: A Knowing Beyond Knowledge “. . . i recognize your face\ like memory in every face . . .” Argentine poet Juan Gelman
The Swimming Pool at Villa Grimaldi
Martín Espada The Swimming Pool at Villa Grimaldi Santiago, Chile Beyond the gate where the convoys spilled their cargo of blindfolded
DISAPPEARED/DESAPARECIDO
George Evans DISAPPEARED/DESAPARECIDO for Juan Gelman Anticipating someone might claim him one day the gravediggers left their ropes
No-Man’s-Land
Daisy Zamora No–Man’s–Land to the poets I love We are a minefield of clarity, and whoever crosses the barbed wire comes
A Photograph of Juan Gelman Dressed to the Nines
Sergio Ramírez A Photograph of Juan Gelman Dressed to the Nines I have seen the figure of Juan Gelman in formal attire bowing gracefully over a
Archilochos in Baghdad
Doug Anderson Archilochos in Baghdad There is less noise now except in your head. The smirking rich have gone home with their take and left you
from Sleeping with Sappho
Stephen Vincent from Sleeping with Sappho 36. Andrew The joker dropped Melissa a dead letter ] Out of Delphi — without a prayer Indelicate Jane
XI.
Susan Sherman XI. There is no way to imagine her final hours what she saw when she finally descended into that darkness she loved so well
To Juan Gelman
Gioconda Belli To Juan Gelman I think, Juan that we are a man and a woman wandering aimlessly through the world, with a muted question behind the
Reading Juan Gelman Poems over the Phone
Gioconda Belli Reading Juan Gelman Poems over the Phone I first met Juan Gelman at the craziest and most fantastic gathering of poets ever. It
24th March 2006
Juan Daniel Perotta 24th March 2006 All the horror today all the pain suffered Makes me become a child again brings back the sun A flag is being
Life and Death
Juan Daniel Perotta Life and Death I write and take communion — I break the bread and drink wine — I promise myself to forget and not to plan To
Attachment
Claribel Alegría I’ve been a very close friend of Gelman for many years and I admire him greatly. I am sending you a very short poem that I
At the Hall of the Red Tlalocs
Efraín Bartolomé At the Hall of the Red Tlalocs 1 for Guadalupe Belmontes Stringel 2 1. I stroll the courtyards of Tepantitla like the
Elegy for Old Masters
Sam Hamill Elegy for Old Masters Suddenly old and once again sleepless, I rise in the night and slip outside and climb the steep narrow steps to
Southern Stars
Sam Hamill Southern Stars It is solstice, the beginning of summer, and almost New Year. I’m watching Esteban measure out each small shovelful of
Calls
Ernesto Cardinal Calls You can take the call you’ve been waiting for. The call that might tell you your number was the prize winner. You answered
Drawings of Sightlessness
Luis Cardoza y Aragon Drawings of Sightlessness Between pen and paper there is a celestial space where angels, stars, and clouds go by, in which
Juan Gelman: The Music of Questions
Jorge Boccanera Juan Gelman: The Music of Questions Gelman’s poetic breathing has the music of questions. The clincher “Qué cuestión!” (“What a
The Wages of the Profane — (Paris, Geneva, Mexico, New York, 1984-1992)
Selected Poems of Juan Gelman translated by Hardie St. Martin Courage to José Angel Valente Word that is extinguished when we breathe
The Judgment
Selected Poems of Juan Gelman translated by Hardie St. Martin The Judgment that grace time saw growing on your brow / time will reap / and will
Com/Positions — (Paris, 1984-1985)
Selected Poems of Juan Gelman translated by Hardie St. Martin The Prisoner gazelle / you’re far away / yet you’re closer to my bones than even i
XVI
Selected Poems of Juan Gelman translated by Hardie St. Martin XVI What really hurts me is our defeat. Exiles are tenants
Under Foreign Rain — (Footnotes to a defeat) (Rome, May 1980)
Selected Poems of Juan Gelman translated by Hardie St. Martin XII My father came to America with one hand behind and the other in
Commentary XXVIII (saint john of the cross)
Selected Poems of Juan Gelman translated by Hardie St. Martin Commentary XXVIII (saint john of the cross) many ways of remembering rise from
Commentary II (saint theresa)
Selected Poems of Juan Gelman translated by Hardie St. Martin Commentary II (saint theresa) with my love running over and spilling/ all around
Commentaries — (Rome, Madrid, Paris, Zürich, Geneva, Calella de la Costa, 1978-1979)
Selected Poems of Juan Gelman translated by Hardie St. Martin Commentary I (saint theresa) dear love going away like a bird stretched out over
Alone
Selected Poems of Juan Gelman translated by Hardie St. Martin Alone you’re alone / my country / without the comrades you lock up and destroy /
Quiet at Last
Selected Poems of Juan Gelman translated by Hardie St. Martin Quiet at Last quiet at last / so terribly alone / without kisses / my comrades
If Gently — (Rome, January-March, 1980)
to Juan Carlos Cedrón Selected Poems of Juan Gelman translated by Hardie St. Martin If Gently if waves from someone who threw himself into the
On the Soul Begins to Hurt
Selected Poems of Juan Gelman translated by Hardie St. Martin On the Soul Begins to Hurt Early on the soul begins to hurt / pale / in the
XVI: Punishing loves
Selected Poems of Juan Gelman translated by Hardie St. Martin XVI: Punishing loves punishing loves / keeping sorrows down / from sun to
Open Letter — (Paris, Rome, January, 1980)
to my son Selected Poems of Juan Gelman translated by Hardie St. Martin IV: Crestfallen my burning soul crestfallen my burning soul dips a
Note V
Selected Poems of Juan Gelman translated by Hardie St. Martin Note V don’t keep sadness away from the fireside / sit here beside me / old gal /
Note III
Selected Poems of Juan Gelman translated by Hardie St. Martin Note III walking on my bare knees through a field of broken glass / walking on my
Deaths
Selected Poems of Juan Gelman translated by Hardie St. Martin Deaths one day i watched death going by / she wasn’t on horseback / she was
Facts — (Buenós Aires, Rome, 1974-1978)
Selected Poems of Juan Gelman translated by Hardie St. Martin Things They Don’t Know dark times / filled with light / the sun spreads sunlight
Relationships — (Buenós Aires, 1971-1973)
Selected Poems of Juan Gelman translated by Hardie St. Martin Reds rain beats down on Río de la Plata and it’s going on 36 years since they
XX: Those who created God
Selected Poems of Juan Gelman translated by Hardie St. Martin XX: Those who created God those who created god with one or two men or converted
Yamanocuchi’s Poems — (1968)
Selected Poems of Juan Gelman translated by Hardie St. Martin IV: The sun on the day’s crest the sun on the day’s crest gilds points of land
CIII: I saw my country’s map in yellow one day
Selected Poems of Juan Gelman translated by Hardie St. Martin CIII: I saw my country’s map in yellow one day i saw my country’s map in yellow
John Wendell’s Poems
Selected Poems of Juan Gelman translated by Hardie St. Martin CCLXI: These poems these poems this batch of papers this handful of fragments
Another May
Selected Poems of Juan Gelman translated by Hardie St. Martin Another May when you went past my window may with autumn on your back and flashed
Cólera buey
Selected Poems of Juan Gelman translated by Hardie St. Martin Friends jiri wolker attila joszef me probably never three more perfect friends jiri
The End
Selected Poems of Juan Gelman translated by Hardie St. Martin The End A man has died and they’re teaspooning up his blood, dear john, you’re dead
Gotán
Selected Poems of Juan Gelman translated by Hardie St. Martin Stuck in Paris The one I miss now is the old lion at the zoo, we always had coffee
The Girl on the Balcony
Selected Poems of Juan Gelman translated by Hardie St. Martin The Girl on the Balcony The afternoon went down that street near the port making
The Thief
Selected Poems of Juan Gelman translated by Hardie St. Martin The Thief In the night, so dark and quiet, shying away from everything human or
One Man’s Wake — (1961)
Selected Poems of Juan Gelman translated by Hardie St. Martin The Art of Poetry Of all trades, I’ve chosen one that isn’t mine. Like a hard
Strike At The Construction Site
Selected Poems of Juan Gelman translated by Hardie St. Martin Strike At The Construction Site Neither the strong noon wine they’d drink out in
The Name of the Game — (1956-1958)
Selected Poems of Juan Gelman translated by Hardie St. Martin I Sit Here Like an Invalid I sit here like an invalid in the desert of my desire
Violin and Other Questions — (1956)
Selected Poems of Juan Gelman translated by Hardie St. Martin Watching People Walk Along Watching people walk along, put on a suit, a hat, an
Poet and Translator Biographies
Asa Zatz
during a visit to Mexico that lasted thirty–three years, he learned the translator’s craft and dealt with material in practically any
David Unger
is a Guatemalan–born writer and translator. He is the author of the novel Life in the Damn Tropics (Wisconsin University Press, 2004).
Ilan Stavans
is Lewis–Sebring Professor in Latin American and Latino Culture at Amherst College. His books include The Hispanic Condition (1995), On
Hardie St. Martin
in his long and distinguished career as an editor and translator, he translated work by Vincente Aleixandre, Roque Dalton, Enrique Lihn, Nicanor
Mónica Bruno Galmozzi
has translated several books of poetry, including Melodious Women by Marjorie Agosin. She is currently a medical interpreter at Shriners
Sabeli Ceballos Franco
is a Mexican poet and works full time at the Foreign Language Department of the University of Campeche, in the South East of Mexico.
Jonathan Cohen
has been translating Cardenal since 1970: With Walker in Nicaragua and Other Early Poems, 1949–1954 and From Nicaragua, With Love: Poems
Robert Arnold
taught Spanish for thirty–one years at the Belmont Hill School in Boston, Ma. He currently is living in Queensbury, NY.
Daisy Zamora
was honored as 2006 Woman Writer of the Year by the National Association of Artists in her native Nicaragua, was a combatant for the Frente
Stephen Vincent
is an artist and poet who lives in San Francisco. Walking Theory ( Junction Press, 2007) is his most recent book. Previous titles include
Susan Sherman
is the founding editor of IKON magazine. She has had twelve plays produced off–off–Broadway and published four collections of
Sergio Ramírez
born in Masatepe, Nicaragua in 1942, Ramírez was Vice President of Nicaragua during the Sandinista regime and later a member of Parliament, until
Paul Pines
is the author of the novel, The Tin Angel (Wm. Morrow, 1983) and the memoir, My Brother’s Madness (Curbstone, 2007). His seventh book of poems,
Juan Daniel Perrotta
was born in Argentina in 1953. He is a poet and a writer. Most of his work can be founded in Spanish on the Internet.
Sam Hamill
is the author of fourteen books of poetry, three collections of essays, and two–dozen volumes translated from ancient Greek, Latin,
George Evans
is the author of five books of poetry published in the United States and England, including The New World (Curbstone Press) and Sudden Dreams
Martín Espada
has published sixteen books as a poet, editor, and translator, including The Republic of Poetry (a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize), Alabanza:
Ernesto Cardenal
was born in 1925 in Granada, Nicaragua. He is a Revolutionary activist, disciple of Thomas Merton, Roman Catholic priest, ambassador for the
Jorge Boccanera
lived in exile in Mexico from 1976 until the fall of the dictatorship, when he returned to Argentina. In 1976 he won the esteemed “Casa de las
Gioconda Belli
is one of Nicaragua’s most highly regarded writers. Her first novel, La Mujer Habitada, sold over 500,000 copies in Germany. The Inhabited Woman
Doug Anderson
most recent book is Keep Your Head Down: Vietnam, The Sixties, and a Journey of Self–Discovery. His book of poems, The Moon Reflected
Claribel Alegría
was born in Estelí, Nicaragua in 1924 and grew up in El Salvador. She has published over forty books, ten of which have been translated into
Juan Gelman
was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina May 3, 1930. He has published more than twenty books of poetry since 1956. He won the Cervantes Prize in
