The Poems of Octavio Paz

Octavio Paz

The question of who or what writes a poem, which agency creates which pieces, even if none of the players is exactly automatic, takes us a long way into Paz’s work, handsomely represented in this new collection.

London Review of Books

Now in paperback, the definitive, life-spanning, bilingual edition of the poems by the Nobel Prize laureate

The Poems of Octavio Paz

Poetry by Octavio Paz

Translated from Spanish by Eliot Weinberger

Edited by Eliot Weinberger

The Poems of Octavio Paz is the first retrospective collection of Paz’s poetry to span his entire writing career, from his first published poem, at age seventeen, to his magnificent last poem. This landmark bilingual edition contains many poems that have never been translated into English before, plus new translations based on Paz’s final revisions. Assiduously edited by Eliot Weinberger—who has been translating Paz for over forty years—The Poems of Octavio Paz also includes additional translations by the poet-luminaries Elizabeth Bishop, Paul Blackburn, Denise Levertov, Muriel Rukeyser, and Charles Tomlinson. Readers will also find Weinberger’s capsule biography of Paz, as well as illuminating notes on many poems in Paz’s own words taken from various interviews he gave throughout his long and singular life.

With additional translations by Elizabeth Bishop, Paul Blackburn, Denise Levertov, Muriel Rukeyser, and Charles Tomlinson

Paperback(published Feb, 27 2018)

ISBN
9780811227568
Price US
21.95
Price CN
25.95
Trim Size
6 x 9
Page Count
624

Clothbound(published Oct, 23 2012)

ISBN
9780811220439
Price US
39.95
Price CN
42
Page Count
592

Ebook(published Oct, 23 2012)

ISBN
9780811227575
Portrait of Octavio Paz

Octavio Paz

Twentieth-century Mexican Poet

The question of who or what writes a poem, which agency creates which pieces, even if none of the players is exactly automatic, takes us a long way into Paz’s work, handsomely represented in this new collection.

London Review of Books

Readers will marvel at Paz’s variety: haiku-like miniatures; the tempestuous book-length poem Sunstone; fast-moving prose poems; abstract odes; extended descriptions of places in Mexico, India, Afghanistan, and Japan.

Publishers Weekly

The pleasure of this volume is the consistent, almost gentle voice that lays out for the reader Paz’s convictions and questions. ‘Gentle’ though should not indicate easy of peaceful or unquestioning. Paz raises his anxieties, doubts, and disruptions. Rather it is the artfulness with which he does so that carries the reader along.

Three Percent

That rarity, an authoritative translation that should get sustained U.S. attention, and that often sounds right read aloud.

Publishers Weekly