Spanish and Latin American Poets: Mid-Century to Contemporary
Miguel Hernández (1910-1942)
Miguel Hernández, born into a humble family, was largely self-taught. He married Josefina Manresa, who, along with books provided by a friend, greatly influenced him. In 1934, he joined the Communist Party and later enlisted in the Republican army. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison and died of tuberculosis in 1942 in Alicante prison.
Key Works:
- Expert on Moons
- Lightning That Does Not Cease
- The Violated Whistle
- Wind of the People
- Man is a Hunter
- Songs and Ballads of Absences
Poets in Exile
Juan Gil-Albert (1904-1994)
Key Works:
- Mysterious Presence
- Hot Horrors
- Unknown Names
- Illusions
- Schedule is Love
- Sources of Constancy
Germán Bleiberg (1915-1990)
Key Works:
- The Song of the Night
- Love Sonnets
- Beyond the Ruins
- Mutual Spring
Poets Rooted in Poetry
Luis Rosales (1910-1992)
Key Works:
- April
- Home On
- Rhymes
- Second April
- Songs
- As the Court Makes Blood
- Poetry Reunion
Leopoldo Panero (1909-1962)
Key Works:
- Guadarrama Verses
- Stay Empty
- Written at Each Instant
Dionisio Ridruejo (1912-1975)
Key Works:
- Poetry in Arms
- Sonnets to Stone
- Elegies
- The Early Days
- To Date
Luis Felipe Vivanco (1907-1975)
Key Works:
- Time of Pain
- Continuation of Life
- Descampado
José García Nieto (1914-2001)
Key Works:
- Eve to You
- You and Me on the Ground
- Circumstances of Death
- Eleventh Hour
- Talking to Himself
Social Poetry
Gabriel Celaya (1911-1991)
Gabriel Celaya (pseudonym of Juan Leceta) studied engineering in Madrid. He directed the magazine *Norte*. He was awarded the Critics’ Prize and, in 1986, the National Prize for Spanish Letters.
Key Works:
- Tide of Silence
- Solitude
- Closed Elementary Movements
- Quietly Talking
- The Way Things Are
- The Showdown
- Else in Silence
- Iberian Songs
- Clear in Light
- The Resistance of the Diamond
- Semantic Fields
- Right and Back
Blas de Otero (1916-1979)
Blas de Otero studied Law in Valladolid. He participated on both sides during the Civil War. After the war, he was awarded a Bachelor of Arts, the Boscán Award, the Critics’ Prize, the Fastenrath Prize, and the International SAR Omegna Resistenza.
Key Works:
- Spiritual Canticle
- Fierce Angel
- Human Roll of Conscience
- Elderly
- To Ask for Peace and the Word
- In Castilian
- This is Not a Book
- That’s About Spain
- Feigned and Real Stories
José Hierro (1922-2002)
José Hierro’s childhood in Santander was interrupted by the Civil War. He worked as a literary critic from 1952 to 1987. He received numerous awards, including the National Poetry Prize, the Critics’ Prize, the Prince of Asturias Prize, the Spanish Literature Prize, and the Cervantes Prize. He became a professor in 1999.
Key Works:
- Earth Without Us
- Joy
- With Stones, With the Wind
- Fifth of ’42
- As Much as I Know About Myself
- Book of Hallucinations
- Agenda
- New York Notebook
Authors of the Mid-Century Generation
Ángel González (1925-2008)
Key Works:
- Rough World
- Without Hope, With Conviction
- Word Upon Word
- Prosemas or Less
- Deixis in Absentia
- In Autumn and Other Lights
José Manuel Caballero Bonald (1926-2021)
Key Works:
- Divinations
- Sheets of String
- Discredit of the Hero
- Manual of Offenders
Jaime Gil de Biedma (1929-1990)
People of the Verb
José Ángel Valente (1929-2000)
Key Works:
- Poetry of Silence
- Zero
- Material Memory
- Fragments of a Future Book
Francisco Brines (1932-2021)
A Farewell Essay
Claudio Rodríguez (1934-1999)
Key Works:
- From My Poems
- Gift of Drunkenness
- Spells
- Alliance and Condemnation
- Almost a Legend
Aesthetics of Modernism
Poetry Centered on the Discovery of One’s Landscape
Carlos Luis (Argentinian Poet)
Key Works:
- From My Village
- By the Shortcut
Lyric of Intimacy and Love
Alfonsina Storni (1892-1938)
The Concern of the Rose
Juana de Ibarbourou (1892-1979)
Key Works:
- The Languages of Diamond
- Wild Root
- Mask and Clover
Gabriela Mistral (Lucila Godoy Alcayaga) (1889-1957)
Key Works:
- Desolation
- Logging
- Lagar
Dulce María Loynaz (1902-1997)
Key Works:
- Fountains
- Water and Love Lines
- Shipwrecked Poems
Lyrical Avant-Garde
César Vallejo (1892-1938)
Key Works:
- The Black Heralds
- Trilce
- Human Poems and Spain, Away From Me This Chalice
Vicente Huidobro (1893-1948)
Altazor
Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986)
Key Works:
- Prism, Bow, Martin Fierro
- Fervor de Buenos Aires
- Sentimental Moon
- Deep Rose
- The Iron Coin
- The Conspirators
Pure Poetry
Mariano Brull (1891-1956)
Key Works:
- Tropical
- Double Accent
Black or Afro-Antillean Poetry
Nicolás Guillén (1902-1989)
Key Works:
- Songoro Cosongo: Mulatto Poems
- West Indies Ltd.
Contemporary Poets
Pablo Neruda (1904-1973)
Key Works:
- 20 Love Poems and a Song of Despair
- Residence on Earth
- Spain in My Heart
- General Song
- Poem of the South American Continent
- Elementary Odes
- I Confess That I Have Lived
Octavio Paz (1914-1998)
Key Works:
- Parole
- Lap
- Last Light
- Tree In
- Laurel
Mario Benedetti (1920-2009)
Inventory (Uno/Inv.2/Inv.3)
Álvaro Mutis (1923-2013)
Key Works:
- Lost Jobs
- Emissaries
- A Tribute and Seven Nights
Ernesto Cardenal (1925-2020)
Key Works:
- Time
- Psalms
- Doubtful Strait
Juan Gelman (1930-2014)
Key Works:
- Interruptions
- Letter to My Mother
- Sound Out the Night