The Sun Unwound: Original Texts from Occupied America

by Edward Dorn (Translator), Ed Dorn (Editor), Gordon Brotherston (Editor)

The result of a 20-year collaboration between poet Edward Dorn and scholar Gordon Brotherston, The Sun Unwound gathers together the disparate voices of oppressed Americans through the the hymns, songs, and prayers of Mesoamericans and other native peoples; the verse of eight Latin American guerrillas of the 1960’s; and works by three of Latin America’s most important avant-garde poets of the twentieth century. The Native Americans saw their cultures obliterated, most of the guerrillas died in their struggles, and the modernists have faced persecution, prison, and torture for their left-wing convictions. Previously untranslated or unavailable to most North Americans, their poems offer a striking counterpoint to the colonialist, capitalist, Anglo-Saxon ethos.

288 pages, Paperback

First published February 18, 1999

Reviews

[else fine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't believe I had never read Cesar Vallejo before this. I feel humbled by my own ignorance. There are many other fantastic and surprising pieces in this collection - I particularly enjoyed the inclusion of the illustrated work by Patricia Galvao - but Vallejo is what really kicked my ass. Hats off to the translators for making his words so vivid and clear.