In April of last year Associate Dean Brian Reed signed an MOU with the Vicente Huidobro Foundation in Chile to launch a series of anthologies of great Spanish-language poets. The Foundation preserves the legacy of the great Chilean avant-garde poet Vicente Huidobro (1893-1948). Prof. Anthony Geist was asked by the Foundation’s director, Mario Meléndez, to be editor-in-chief of the anthology collection, and he invited Prof. José Francisco Robles to participate in the initiative.
The project consists of three complementary collections: 1. Horizon Carré: bilingual anthologies of individual outstanding Spanish-language poets, aimed at a US university audience; 2. 10 x 10: Anthologies of major poets of the twentieth century organized by country, to be published in English translation by RIL Editores (Chile); 3. Identical anthologies in the original Spanish version, to be published simultaneously by Valparaíso (Spain).
The national anthologies will include, among others, Cuba, Spain, Chile, Argentina, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay, and Colombia. Called 10 x 10, each anthology will feature ten poems by ten poets. Each volume will have two editors, chosen for their status as poets and/or critics specialized in the particular country. The English versions will be produced by acclaimed translators and scholars.
The first four issues of Horizon Carré have just been released, each containing a brief introduction and a 27-page selection of poems in both languages. Rather than a facing-pages format, each volume will be two books in one, in a flip format: Spanish from the front to the middle, then turned over to read the English from the front to the middle. The UW logo is featured prominently on both covers.
This is truly a University of Washington project, having garnered the support of the dean as well as the Department of Spanish and Portuguese Studies. Volume 1 in the series, Federico García Lorca: Una brisa triste por los olivos / A Sad Breeze in the Olive Trees, was edited and translated by Geist and Allen Josephs (University of West Florida). Volume 2, Alfonsina Storni: Hombre pequeñito / Tiny Little Man, was translated by recent MA graduate Brianna Salinas; and Volume 3, Vicente Huidobro: La poesía es un atentado celeste / Poetry is a Celestial Attack, was edited and translated by Robles and Prof. Elizabeth Hochberg.
The books are available here: https://rileditores-us.quares.es/apex/quares/r/landingweb/colecciones?p4_idcoleccion=615&session=3324479619488
By Anthony Geist