Solar Poems
A book of cosmological surrealism in the tradition of Octavio Paz, Solar Poems is the first English translation of a single volume of poems by Mexico’s famed poet-diplomat Homero Aridjis, exploring political consciousness as well as visionary psychological themes. President emeritus of International PEN, the prolific poet is Mexico’s ambassador to UNESCO. Poemas solares (Solar Poems) was published in 2005.
Translator George McWhirter won the Commonwealth Poetry Prize for Catalan Poems, the F.R. Scott Prize for Selected Poems of José Emilio Pacheco, and the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize for his novel Cage. He is Vancouver’s first Poet Laureate.
"Homero Aridjis is a profoundly ecological poet who has put his fame and time where his principles are, fighting to save the monarch butterflies that winter by the billions in the mountains of his native Michoacán, the sea turtle that lays her eggs on Caribbean beaches, and the gray whale that calves in the lagoons of Baja California. Aridjis writes to the point, with an open eye and a sense of humor . . ." --John Oliver Simon, Poetry Flash
Aridjis has published thirty-eight books. English translations include the novels Persephone, 1492 and The Lord of the Last Days, the poetry collections Blue Spaces and Exaltation of Light, and a bilingual selected poems Eyes to See Otherwise. Poemas Solares (Solar Poems) was published in 2005. President Emeritus of International PEN, he is Mexico's Ambassador to UNESCO. George McWhirter was born in Belfast. His Catalan Poems won Commonwealth Poetry Prize, Selected Poems of José Emilio Pacheco, the F.R. Scott Prize, and his novel Cage, the Ethel Wilson Prize. Recent poetry includes The Incorrection and The Anachronicles. Blackbird Theatre produced his version of Euripides's Hecuba in Vancouver, 2007. He is Vancouver's first Poet Laureate.
