NERUDA, PABLO

born July 12, 1904, Parral, Chile died Sept. 23, 1973, Santiago Pablo Neruda. original name Neftal Ricardo Reyes Basoalto Chilean poet, diplomat, and politician who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971. He was perhaps the most important Latin-American poet of the 20th century. Additional reading Neruda's work is collected in Obras completas, 4th ed. expanded, 3 vol. (1973). Most of his work is available in various English translations; four essential works are Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair, trans. by W.S. Merwin (1969, reissued 1993); Residence on Earth, and Other Poems, trans. by Angel Flores (1946, reprinted 1976); Canto general, trans. by Jack Schmitt (1991); and Elementary Odes of Pablo Neruda, trans. by Carlos Lozano (1961).Volodia Teitelboim, Neruda (1991; originally published in Spanish, 1984), is a biography written by a friend. Among the most interesting Spanish-language critical studies of Neruda's life and works are Amado Alonso, Poesa y estilo en Pablo Neruda (1940, reissued 1979); Margarita Aguirre, Las vidas de Pablo Neruda (1967, reissued 1973); and Hernn Loyola, Ser y morir en Pablo Neruda, 19181945 (1967). Later critical studies in English include Frank Riess, The Word and the Stone: Language and Imagery in Neruda's Canto general (1972); Salvatore Bizzarro, Pablo Neruda: All Poets the Poet (1979); Ren de Costa, The Poetry of Pablo Neruda (1979); John Felstiner, Translating Neruda: The Way to Macchu Picchu (1980); Manuel Durn and Margery Safir, Earth Tones: The Poetry of Pablo Neruda (1981); Enrico Mario Sant, Pablo Neruda: The Poetics of Prophecy (1982); Marjorie Agosin, Pablo Neruda, trans. from Spanish (1986); and Christopher Perriam, The Late Poetry of Pablo Neruda (1989). Manuel E. Duran