Cardenal also presided over a great deal of censorship of other writers,
including former comrades in arms who were not Sandinistas, while Minister
of Culture. Of course that speaks more to his reputation for sanctity,
political and otherwise, than to the quality of his poetry.
At 12:31 PM 7/3/2000 +1000, you wrote:
>Can anyone tell me if there is anything in English
>translation by Cardenal since 1995?
>
>Below is biographical detail given for a reading
>he gave in New York City in late 1998. I'm not
>a particular Michael Palmer fan, it seems a sort
>of gamey escapist poetry. He's a big influence
>on young Australian poet Emma Lew, however.
>Niedecker is pretty interesting, and I too will be
>looking up Weldon Kees.
>
>Ernesto Cardenal is the author of more than 35 books in Spanish, a number of
>which have been translated into English, including Flights of Victory, Zero
>Hour, Homage to the American Indians, and With Walker in Nicaragua. He has
>always considered poetry as a powerful agent for constructive social change
>and his poetry gives voice to the voiceless, speaking out against
>oppression. His English translation poetry volumes include Marilyn Monroe
>and Other Poems (1965), The Psalms of Struggle and Liberation (1967), To
>Live is to Love (1970), In Cuba (1974), Apocalypse and Other Poems (1977),
>Nicaraguan New Time (1988), Cosmic Canticle (1993), and The Doubtful Strait
>(1995). Choice magazine calls Cardenal "one of the world's major poets" who
>"struggles to convince himself that the underlying force in the universe is
>divine purpose rather than pure chance. For him, the politics of commitment
>is essential the poetic discourse, just as love, the ultimate cohesive
>principle, is necessary to preserve the oneness of creation."
>
>Cardenal was born on January 20, 1925 in Grenada, Nicaragua. He studied in
>Mexico and at Columbia University in the U.S., and with Thomas Merton at a
>Trappist monastery in Kentucky in 1957. Nicaraguan dictactor Anastasio
>Somoza declared Cardenal an outlaw in 1957 for his support of the Sandinista
>movement. In 1965, he was ordained a priest and founded a Christian commune,
>Solentiname. During the revolution, Cardenal served as a field chaplain for
>the FSLN. After the Triumph, he served as Minister of Culture from 1979 to
>1988 and promoted literary workshops throughout Nicaragua. At present he is
>the Vice President of Casa de Las Tres Mundos, a literary and cultural
>organization based in Managua.
>
>
>
>
>It's probably good to start with Marilyn Monroe
>and Other Poems (1965)... Check him out!
>
>
>best
>
>Hugh Tolhurst
>
>
>
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