Mistranslating Neruda

by Matt Mason

from the publisher's website: ...Mistranslating Neruda is a translation of Pablo Neruda's poetry by a poet who knows very little Spanish. The general arc of Neruda's poems comes through regardless, and it's almost as if Mason is channeling Neruda, or reconstructing him out of more American fragments....

Genres: Poetry

36 pages, Chapbook

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Matt Mason has run poetry workshops in Botswana, Romania, Nepal, and Belarus for the U.S. State Department and his poetry has appeared in The New York Times, Rattle, and hundreds more.

Matt served as the Nebraska State Poet from 2019-2024 and has received a Pushcart Prize as well as fellowships from the Academy of American Poets and the Nebraska Arts Council.

Mason's 4th book, At the Corner of Fantasy and Main: Disneyland, Midlife and Churros, was released by The Old Mill Press in 2022 and his 5th, Rock Stars, came out from Button Poetry in 2023.

Matt makes his living as a poet and speaker, so hire him to come to you.

Reviews

[Suzanne Grażyna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ah, neutered bacon!

[Ron Mohring · Rating 2 out of 5]

This started off with a bang and then turned into more of the same. Brilliant idea, but not as fully rendered as I'd hoped (come on, when you're taking on Neruda, even from such an engagingly skewed stance, the work should sing.) These poems, for me, alternately sing and galumph.