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Como tirar contra la muerte
La poesía de Juan Gelman explora el dolor propio y el de los otros, el exilio, la ausencia de los hijos arrebatados por la dictadura militar; indaga en el enigma del amor materno, en la extrañeza del amor entre el hombre y la mujer y en la memoria como una misión poética para no olvidar las heridas y los agravios. Pero también es una celebración del significado de estar vivo y de las pequeñas conquistas cotidianas, como una monja atravesando el mundo en un ómnibus o el desfile que celebra una revolución en otra parte. Un compromiso con la palabra auténtico y valiente de un extraordinario poeta que representa una de las grandes cumbres de la literatura hispanoamericana.
72 pages, Paperback
Published September 5, 2025
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About the author
Juan Gelman
145 books93 followersJuan Gelman is one of the most read and influential poets in the Spanish language. He has published more than twenty books of poetry since 1956 and has been translated into fourteen languages. A political activist and critical journalist since his youth, Gelman has not only been a literary paradigm but also a moral one, within and outside of Argentina. Among his most recent awards are the National Poetry Prize (Argentina, 1997), the Juan Rulfo Prize in Latin American and Caribbean Literature (Mexico, 2000), the Pablo Neruda Prize (Chile, 2005), the Queen Sofia Prize in Ibero-American Poetry (Spain, 2005), and the Cervantes Prize (the most important award given to a Hispanic writer, Spain, 2007).
Long biographical note
Juan Gelman is the most significant, contemporary Argentine intellectual figure and one of the most read and influential poets in the Spanish language. Son of a family of Jewish immigrants from the Ukraine, he grew up like any other porteño, among soccer and tango, in the populous neighborhood of Villa Crespo. At 11, he published his first poem in the magazine Rojo y negro, and in the 1950s formed part of the group of rebel writers, El Pan Duro. He was discovered by Raúl González Túñón, among the most relevant voices of the southern country’s poetic avant-garde, who saw in the young man’s verses “a rich and vivacious lyricism and a principally social content […] that does not elude the richness of fantasy.”
Gelman has published, from his initial Violín y otras cuestiones (1956) to his most recent Mundar (2008), more than twenty books of poetry. These works, as Mario Benedetti asserted early on, constitute “the most coherent, and also the most daring, participatory repertoire (in spite of its inevitable wells of solitude), and ultimately the one most suited to its environment, that Argentine poetry has today”, and Hispanic poetry in general, as the profusion of re-editions of his books and numerous anthologies proves. Gelman’s poetry has achieved international recognition, with translations into fourteen languages, including English. Among his awards are the National Poetry Prize (Argentina, 1997), the Juan Rulfo Prize in Latin American and Caribbean Literature (Mexico, 2000), the Pablo Neruda Prize (Chile, 2005), the Queen Sofia Prize in Ibero-American Poetry (Spain, 2005), and the Cervantes Prize (Spain, 2007), the most important award in Hispanic Letters. No one should be surprised to see him the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature one day.
It would be relevant to note that Juan Gelman has not only been a literary paradigm but also a moral one, within and outside of Argentina. A political activist and critical journalist since his youth, he was forced into an exile of thirteen years because of the military dictatorship that ravaged his country from 1976 to 1983, and the weak governments that followed. In 1976 the ultra-right kidnapped his children, Nora Eva, 19, and Marcelo Ariel, 20, along with his son’s wife, María Claudia Iruretagoyena, 19, who was 7 months pregnant. Nora Eva would later return, unlike his son and daughter-in-law, who were killed; their child born in a concentration camp. The vehement search for the truth about the fate of these family members, which culminated in finding his granddaughter in Uruguay in 2000, has made the poet a symbol of the struggle for respect for human rights.
Like other poets from his time and space, Juan Gelman creates his work starting from a critique of the so-called post-avante-garde poetry, which surges in the Hispanic world in the 1940s and breaks with the powerful avante-garde. He is a poet who denies the labors of the Mexican Octavio Paz, the Cuban José Lezama Lima, the Argentine Alberto Girri, among others, to reaffirm it in his own way. It is a poetry that goes against the current, transgresses the established social and cultural order, challenges the individualism intrinsic to modernity and the neo-colonial condition. A poetry that renounc
Long biographical note
Juan Gelman is the most significant, contemporary Argentine intellectual figure and one of the most read and influential poets in the Spanish language. Son of a family of Jewish immigrants from the Ukraine, he grew up like any other porteño, among soccer and tango, in the populous neighborhood of Villa Crespo. At 11, he published his first poem in the magazine Rojo y negro, and in the 1950s formed part of the group of rebel writers, El Pan Duro. He was discovered by Raúl González Túñón, among the most relevant voices of the southern country’s poetic avant-garde, who saw in the young man’s verses “a rich and vivacious lyricism and a principally social content […] that does not elude the richness of fantasy.”
Gelman has published, from his initial Violín y otras cuestiones (1956) to his most recent Mundar (2008), more than twenty books of poetry. These works, as Mario Benedetti asserted early on, constitute “the most coherent, and also the most daring, participatory repertoire (in spite of its inevitable wells of solitude), and ultimately the one most suited to its environment, that Argentine poetry has today”, and Hispanic poetry in general, as the profusion of re-editions of his books and numerous anthologies proves. Gelman’s poetry has achieved international recognition, with translations into fourteen languages, including English. Among his awards are the National Poetry Prize (Argentina, 1997), the Juan Rulfo Prize in Latin American and Caribbean Literature (Mexico, 2000), the Pablo Neruda Prize (Chile, 2005), the Queen Sofia Prize in Ibero-American Poetry (Spain, 2005), and the Cervantes Prize (Spain, 2007), the most important award in Hispanic Letters. No one should be surprised to see him the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature one day.
It would be relevant to note that Juan Gelman has not only been a literary paradigm but also a moral one, within and outside of Argentina. A political activist and critical journalist since his youth, he was forced into an exile of thirteen years because of the military dictatorship that ravaged his country from 1976 to 1983, and the weak governments that followed. In 1976 the ultra-right kidnapped his children, Nora Eva, 19, and Marcelo Ariel, 20, along with his son’s wife, María Claudia Iruretagoyena, 19, who was 7 months pregnant. Nora Eva would later return, unlike his son and daughter-in-law, who were killed; their child born in a concentration camp. The vehement search for the truth about the fate of these family members, which culminated in finding his granddaughter in Uruguay in 2000, has made the poet a symbol of the struggle for respect for human rights.
Like other poets from his time and space, Juan Gelman creates his work starting from a critique of the so-called post-avante-garde poetry, which surges in the Hispanic world in the 1940s and breaks with the powerful avante-garde. He is a poet who denies the labors of the Mexican Octavio Paz, the Cuban José Lezama Lima, the Argentine Alberto Girri, among others, to reaffirm it in his own way. It is a poetry that goes against the current, transgresses the established social and cultural order, challenges the individualism intrinsic to modernity and the neo-colonial condition. A poetry that renounc
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
March 28, 2026
Leer a Juan Gelman es, para mí, sentirse insoportablemente visto. Es (porque siempre ‘es’ mientras lo estamos leyendo) un poeta que hace flores con sus entrañas y en nuestro acto de lectura parece que las tocamos… y que nos tocan de vuelta.
Este libro es una antología brevísima del extenso e importante trabajo poético de Gelman y, aunque no parezca estar centrado en mostrar ‘lo mejor’ o ‘más representativo’ del autor, responde muy bien a lo que delata el verso escogido de título y el diseño de portada: se trata de un poeta íntimo que en su dolor abraza el dolor de una nación representando en cada familia, en la memoria y en la ausencia.
No se trata de una empatía superficial ni apropiarse del sufrimiento de todo el mundo para poder escribir. Gelman se apodera de su dolor y lo comparte sabiendo que miles lo han sentido, no se engrandece ni minimiza, solo se muestra humano, herido y ávido de palabras.
La selección condensada que se presenta en esta edición ofrece la oportunidad de un primer acercamiento a su poesía, dejándote con ganas de descubrir su legado y, tal vez, abrazar a tus seres queridos.
Este libro es una antología brevísima del extenso e importante trabajo poético de Gelman y, aunque no parezca estar centrado en mostrar ‘lo mejor’ o ‘más representativo’ del autor, responde muy bien a lo que delata el verso escogido de título y el diseño de portada: se trata de un poeta íntimo que en su dolor abraza el dolor de una nación representando en cada familia, en la memoria y en la ausencia.
No se trata de una empatía superficial ni apropiarse del sufrimiento de todo el mundo para poder escribir. Gelman se apodera de su dolor y lo comparte sabiendo que miles lo han sentido, no se engrandece ni minimiza, solo se muestra humano, herido y ávido de palabras.
La selección condensada que se presenta en esta edición ofrece la oportunidad de un primer acercamiento a su poesía, dejándote con ganas de descubrir su legado y, tal vez, abrazar a tus seres queridos.
January 20, 2026
Para mi gusto: mala compilación. Juan Gelman tiene muchísimos mejores poemas que estos.
February 8, 2026
Disfrute más los que eran más largos ya que se me hicieron más fáciles de seguir. Siento que si se sentía el dolor en sus palabras.
February 22, 2026
Antología breve de poemas varios del autor, que dan cuenta de un estilo inquieto en el uso del lenguaje y su permanente cuestionamiento a la importancia de las cosas (sustantivos) como ideas transformadoras (verbo); hijar, ternurar y almar, como algunos ejemplos.
Es confuso y hasta demasiado intenso para quien no esté acostumbrado (como me pasó) a una escritura tan contemporánea, pero eso no quita que existan poemas bien pensados como la Carta Abierta (a su hijo desaparecido) y la Carta a mi Madre (a quien no alcanzó a ver morir).
Quizá lea otras cosas del autor para familiarizarme, pero no me voló la cabeza.
Es confuso y hasta demasiado intenso para quien no esté acostumbrado (como me pasó) a una escritura tan contemporánea, pero eso no quita que existan poemas bien pensados como la Carta Abierta (a su hijo desaparecido) y la Carta a mi Madre (a quien no alcanzó a ver morir).
Quizá lea otras cosas del autor para familiarizarme, pero no me voló la cabeza.
January 16, 2026
No había leído nunca al autor y ha sido un primer encuentro bastante grato, sobre todo considerando que la obra forma parte de esta serie de ejemplares que se regalaron en Latinoamérica por el FCE. Al principio me parecía dificil seguir el juego que hacía con sus versos, pero una vez inmersa en la colección, fui disfrutándolo hasta conmoverme. Destaco principalmente “Carta abierta (París/Roma, 1980)” que dedica a su hijo, detenido desaparecido.
January 13, 2026
hay un lugar especial en mi corazón para los juanes de la literatura (juan gelman, juan rulfo)
en una mano carta al padre de kafka y en la otra carta a mi madre de juan gelman
me pareció hermoso. el cambio abrupto en el estilo de los poemas para su hijo —el revoltijo, el dolor, el exilio, la decepción.
en una mano carta al padre de kafka y en la otra carta a mi madre de juan gelman
me pareció hermoso. el cambio abrupto en el estilo de los poemas para su hijo —el revoltijo, el dolor, el exilio, la decepción.
March 30, 2026
Esta antología nos muestra el gran dolor de Juan Gelman acerca de la dictadura militar argentina. Habla principalmente del dolor, la tristeza y algo de amor. Gran parte de estos poemas son muy autobiograficos, como la carta a su madre o el poema que le dedica a su hijo.
Es una gran antología si quieres iniciar a leer a Juan Gelman.
Es una gran antología si quieres iniciar a leer a Juan Gelman.
January 19, 2026
"En el vacío de tu imagen
estaba el ancho sol".
Una de las muchas frases de Juan Gelman que me removieron el alma y la vida.
estaba el ancho sol".
Una de las muchas frases de Juan Gelman que me removieron el alma y la vida.
February 21, 2026
tqm a juan gelman
March 21, 2026
No soy fan la vdd.
April 27, 2026
subirse al sol como subir a los hombros de papá,
y recorrer su espalda como recorrer el cielo,
en búsqueda del futuro.
hombros que ya no te sienten
y recorrer su espalda como recorrer el cielo,
en búsqueda del futuro.
hombros que ya no te sienten
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews