The Selected Poems of Miguel Hernandez: A Bilingual Edition

Vivid, often volatile imagery describes wrenching emotions and events in The Selected Poems of Miguel Hern ndez: A Bilingual Edition, translated and edited by Ted Genoways (ed., Burning the Hymnal). Hern ndez (1910-1941), a Spanish poet constantly plagued by Franco's dictatorial regime, spent his adult life in and out of prison, worrying about his destitute wife and child and unable to reach the larger literary world thanks to censorship. Though other Spanish-speaking poets, such as Neruda, and the broader Spanish-speaking world, read him passionately, Hern ndez died in prison at age 31 of tuberculosis. Raw, passionate, despairing and celebratory, these poems are a true discovery. Other contributing translators include James Wright, Robert Bly (who also provides a foreword), Edwin Hoenig and Philip Levine. Photos. ( Nov.)